' 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

•0- 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


THE    BATTLE 


THE  BIG  HOLE. 


A     HISTORT     OP 


GENERAL   GIBBON  S    ENGAGEMENT    WITH    NEZ    PERCES 

INDIANS  IN  THE  BIG  HOLE  VALLEY,  MONTANA, 

AUGUST   OTH,    1877. 


G.  O.  SHIELDS. 

(  "  CWJUIXA."  ) 

AUTHOR  OF  "RUSTLINGS  IN  THE  ROCKIES,"  "HUNTING  ix  THE  GREAT 

WEST,"      "CRUISINGS    IN     THE    CASCADES,1'     ETC. 


CHICAGO  AND  NEW  YORK: 
RAND,  MCNALLY  &  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS, 

1889, 


COPYRIGHT,  1889,  BY  RAND,  MCNALLY  &  Co. 


6  6"  8  q  q 
Ubmy 


INTRODUCTION. 


CAMP  PILOT  BUTTE,  WYOMING, 

March  17  1889. 
Mr.  G.  O.  Shields,  Chicago,  III. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  have  read  with  a  great  deal  of 
interest  and  pleasure  the  manuscript  of  your 
book,  entitled  u  The  Battle  of  the  Big  Hole," 
and  as  a  participant  in  the  tragic  affair  it  de 
scribes,  can  cheerfully  commend  it  to  all  who 
are  interested  in  obtaining  a  true  history  of  the 
Nez  Perce  campaign.  It  is  a  graphic  and 
truthful  account  of  the  Big  Hole  fight,  and 
of  the  events  leading  up  to  it,  and  must 
prove  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the 
history  of  our  Indian  Avars. 

I  trust  the  book  will  meet  with  the  gener 
ous  reception  it  deserves. 
Yours  truly, 

CIIAS.  A.  COOLIDGE, 
Captain  Seventh  U.  S.  Infantry. 


(3) 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  i. 

The  Ncz  Perec  War— Brief  Resume  of  Events  Lead 
ing  up  to  it — Various  Treaties  Between  the  Tribe 
and  the  United  States — Chief  Joseph's  Unjust 
Claim  to  the  Wallowa  Valley — President  Grant's 
Proclamation — Atrocities  Committed  by  White 
Bird  and  His  Followers  on  Inoffensive  Settlers — 
Men  Massacred  and  Women  Outraged — General 
Howard's  Efforts  to  Quiet  the  Malcontents  and 
His  Subsequent  Campaign  Against  Them — The 
Battles  in  White  Bird  and  Clearwater  Canons — 
The  Renegades'  Retreat  over  the  Lo  Lo  Trail — 
Intercepted  by  Captain  Rawn,  They  Flank  His 
Position  and  Continue  Their  Flight  Through  the 
Bitter  Root  Valley  Toward  the  "  Buffalo  Coun 
try  " — General  Gibbon  in  pursuit. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Gibbon   Reinforced   by   Citizen   Volunteers — Heroic 

March  Across  the  Rocky  Mountain  Divide — His 

Men  Apply  Drag  Ropes  to  the  Wagons  and  Aid 

the  Mules  in  Pulling  Them  up  the  Mountain — Lieu- 

(5) 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

tenant  Bradley  and  His  Scouts  Scale  the  Divide 
by  Night  and  Locate  the  Indian  Camp — The 
March  Down  Trail  Creek— Soldiers'  Fare— Hard 
Tack  and  Raw  Pork— A  Brief  Sleep  Without 
Blankets— Perils  of  the  Situation— Less  Than  200 
Soldiers  and  Citizens  to  Attack  400  Trained  Indian 
Warriors — Implicit  Confidence  of  Officers  and  Men 
in  One  Another  Nerves  Them  to  the  Task.  29 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Stealthy  Midnight  March — Whispered  Commands 
and  Cat-like  Movements — Passing  Through  a  Herd 
of  Ponies — Looking  Down  on  the  Hostile  Camp — 
Squaws  Keep  the  Fires  While  Their  Warriors 
Sleep — The  Barking  of  Indian  Dogs  and  Howling 
of  Coyotes — Heroic  Assault  on  the  Nez  Perce* 
Camp  at  Day-Break — Temporary  Surprise  and 
Subsequent  Rally — Terrific  Struggle  Among  the 
Teepees— The  Fighting  Muzzle  to  Breast — Driven 
from  Their  Tents,  the  Indians  Take  Cover  Under 
the  River  Banks — The  Water  Runs  Crimson  With 
the  Blood  of  Contending  Forces — Squaws  and 
Children  Fight  Like  Demons — Captain  Logan  Shot 
Down  by  One  of  the  She  Devils— Rallying  Cries  of 
White  Bird  and  Looking  Glass— The  Soldiers  Take 
Position  in  the  Mouth  of  "Battle  Gulch"— Gal 
lant  Conduct  of  Officers  and  Men.  42 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Stubborn  Resistance  of  Indians  in  the  Pine  Woods — 
Sbarpshooting  at  Short  Range — The  Struggle  for 
the  Howitzer — Assaulted  by  Thirty  Mounted  In 
dians,  Four  Soldiers  Stand  by  it  until  All  Shot 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  7 

Down— The  Two  Survivors,  Though  Sorely 
Wounded,  Throw  the  Gun  from  the  Trunnion  and 
Crawl  Away  into  the  Brush — How  Gibbon's 
Sharpshooters  Drove  an  Indian  Marksman  from  a 
Pine  Tree — The  Redskins  Fire  the  Grass,  but  a 
Lucky  Turn  of  the  Wind  Saves  the  Soldiers  from 
the  Intended  Holocaust — A  Supper  on  Raw  Horse 
— Heroic  Conduct  of  Captain  Browning  and 
Lieutenant  Woodbridge  in  Rescuing  the  Supply 
Train  and  Bringing  it  up  to  the  Command.  .  64 


CHAPTER  V. 

Retreat  of  the  Indians  under  Cover  of  Night — Anec 
dotes  of  Personal  Heroism — Burying  the  Dead — 
List  of  Soldiers  and  Citizens  Killed  and  Wounded 
— Eighty-nine  Dead  Indians  Found  and  Buried  on 
the  Field ! — Review  of  the  Fight — Importance  of 
its  Place  in  History — Gibbon  and  His  Men  Offi 
cially  Commended  by  Generals  Sherman,  Sheridan, 
and  Terry— Trees  Still  Standing  on  the  Battle- 
Ground,  Girdled  with  Bullets,  Tell  the  Story  of 
the  Struggle 78 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Testimony  of  Officers  and  Men  as  to  the  Courage  and 
Fierceness  of  Nez  Perce*  Warriors  in  Battle — All 
Concede  Them  to  be  the  Bravest  Fighters  in  the 
West — General  Gibbon's  Military  Record — Pre 
vious  History  of  Captain  Logan  and  Lieutenants 
Bradley  and  English — Present  Status  and  Where 
abouts  of  Officers  Who  Participated  in  the  Fight 
and  Who  Still  Live— Names  of  Those  Who  Have 
Gone  to  Their  Reward  Since  That  Bloody  Day.  105 


8  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Description  of  the  Battle  Monument— General  Howard's 
Pursuit  of  the  Nez  Percys  After  the  Battle  in  the 
Big  Hole — Their  Final  Capture  by  General  Miles 
— Chief  Joseph's  Curious  Message  to  Howard — 
White  Bird's  Flight  to  Woody  Mountain— His  Sad 
Plight  on  Arrival  There— He  Still  Lives  Within 
the  British  Lines— Chief  Joseph  on  the  Colville 
Reservation— He  Wants  "  No  More  Fight "  With 
White  Soldiers.  ...  115 


THE 

BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE, 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Nez  Perce  Indians  are  a  powerful 
and  populous  tribe,  who,  for  centuries,  have 
made  their  home  in  the  Snake,  Salmon,  and 
Clear  Water  Valleys  in  Washington,  Oregon, 
and  Idaho.  When  the  great  tide  of  civiliza 
tion,  which  for  years  flowed  toward  the  Pa 
cific  Coast,  finally  spread  out  into  these 
valleys,  questions  arose  between  the  emi 
grants  and  Indians  as  to  the  ownership  of 
certain  lands  claimed  by  the  latter,  and  the 
United  States  Government  sought  to  settle 
these  questions  amicably.  Commissioners 
were  appointed  and  sent  out  to  investigate 
and  define  the  rights  of  the  Indians,  and  in 
1853,  a  treaty  was  concluded  between  the 
(9) 


10       THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

United  States  and  the  head  chiefs  and  fifty- 
two  of  the  principal  men  of  the  Nez  Perce 
tribe,  defining  the  boundaries  of  the  country 
claimed  by  them,  and  cedimg  to  the  Govern 
ment  certain  other  lands  which  they  had 
formerly  occupied,  but  to  which  they  had 
set  up  no  valid  claim. 

In  1863,  another  treaty  was  made,  modify 
ing  these  boundaries  to  some  extent,  and  in 
1868,  still  another  was  negotiated  at  Wash 
ington  that  was  finally  signed  by  "  Lawyer," 
head  chief  of  the  Nez  Perces,  and  by  "  Tim 
othy"  and  "  Jason,"  sub-chiefs,  all  of  whom 
claimed  to  be,  and  in  fact  were,  acting  for 
the  entire  tribe  by  virtue  of  authority  given 
them  by  the  tribal  laws,  and  by  a  general 
council  of  their  people  assembled  for  that 
purpose. 

In  this  treaty,  the  Indians  agreed,  for  cer 
tain  considerations  that  were  entirely  satis 
factory  to  them,  to  relinquish  certain  por 
tions  of  their  reservation  which  they  agreed 
were  not  needed  or  used  by  them,  and 
to  remove  from  said  lands  within  one  year 
from  that  date;  to  locate  and  live  upon 


CHIEF   JOSEPH. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  ll 

the  reservation  therein  designated  and  de 
scribed. 

The  tract  relinquished  to  the  United  States 
in  this  instrument  included  the  Wallowa 
Valley.  When  the  chiefs  returned  to  their 
people  and  reported  their  action,  Young 
Joseph  repudiated  the  treaty,  and  refused  to 
be  bound  by  it.  He  claimed  the  Wallowa 
Valley  as  the  special  home  and  inheritance 
of  himself  and  his  people,  and  said  he  would 
continue  so  to  claim  it,  and  to  occupy  it 
whenever  he  chose,  against  all  other  claim 
ants,  white  or  red. 

In^  this  dissension  he  was  in  time  joined 
by  White  Bird,  Looking  Glass,  To-hul-hul- 
sote  and  other  sub-chiefs,  and  several  hundred 
warriors.  These  became  known  henceforth 
as  the  "  Non-treaty  Nez  Perces."  Joseph 
and  his  band  had  never  really  occupied  the 
valley  permanently,  and  had  never  before 
made  any  special  claim  to  it  as  against  any 
other  portion  of  the  tribe.  He  had  fre 
quently  gone  into  it  during  the  summer  to 
fish  and  hunt,  in  common  with  various  other 
bands  of  the  tribe,  but  had  never  staid  more 


12          THE  BATTLE  OP  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

than  a  few  weeks  at  a  time,  and  had  made 
his  home  during  the  greater  portion  of  each 
year  in  the  Imnaha  Valley  near  the  Snake 
River. 

In  1871,  a  few  whites  settled  in  the  Wallowa 
Valley.  Joseph  protested,  becama  obstrep 
erous,  ordered  them  away,  and  threatened 
violence  if  they  remained,  biit  so  far  did 
nothing  more  than  threaten.  Other  whites 
came  in  the  following  years  and  the  compli 
cations  increased.  Complaints  were  made  to 
the  Government  that  the  Indians  were  annoy 
ing  and  threatening  the  settlers,  and  in  1875 
President  Grant  issued  an  executive  order, 
proclaiming  that  the  Wallowa  Valley  was  a 
part  of  the  public  domain  and  open  to  settle 
ment  by  white  people. 

In  May,  1877,  Joseph  and  his  band  became 
more  arrogant  than  ever,  and  again  threatened 
immediate  and  violent  measures  against  the 
settlers  if  they  did  not  at  once  withdraw 
from  his  country.  Some  acts  of  violence 
were  committed,  and  at  the  request  of  the 
settlers  a  company  of  United  States  cavalry 
was  sent  to  the  scene  of  the  disturbance. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.     13 

The  Indians  were  temporarily  quieted,  but 
the  feeling  of  discontent  and  hatred  against 
the  whites  was  growing. 

General  Howard,  then  commanding  the 
Department  of  the  Columbia,  repaired  to  the 
scene  of  the  disturbance,  and,  with  J.  B. 
Monteith,  agent  of  the  Nez  Perces,  held 
several  councils  with  the  malcontents,  and 
argued  patiently  and  persistently  to  convince 
them  that  the  treaty,  whereby  the  Wallowa 
Valley  had  been  ceded  to  the  Government, 
was  duly  signed  and  ratified  by  the  properly 
constituted  chiefs  of  the  tribe;  that  it  was 
valid,  and  that  every  member  of  the  tribe 
was  bound  by  it;  that  the  white  men  were 
only  exercising  their  legal  rights  in  settling 
on  the  land;  and  the  Indians  were  assured 
that  the  whites  would  be  protected  in  these 
rights  by  the  white  soldiers  if  necessary. 

They  were  told  in  mild  but  positive  terms 
that  they  must  go  on  the  reservation  set  apart 
for  them  by  their  chiefs  and  the  agents  of 
the  white  father  at  Washington;  and  warned 
that,  in  the  event  of  their  persistent  refusal, 

soldiers  would  place  them  there  by  force,  or 
B 


14          ME  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

so  many  of  them  as  should  survive  in  case  they 
resisted.  The  three  chiefs — Joseph,  White 
Bird,  and  Looking  Glass — finally  agreed  to  go 
on  the  reservation,  and  asked  for  thirty  days' 
time  in  which  to  collect  their  people  and  their 
horses  and  place  them  on  the  reservation. 
This  was  granted,  and  the  council  dispersed. 

General  Howard  did  not,  however,  place 
implicit  faith  in  the  promises  of  the  wily 
chiefs.  He  suspected  that  this  was  merely  a 
ruse  of  the  Indians  to  gain  more  time  for 
manufacturing  sympathy  among  other  mem 
bers  of  the  tribe,  for  gaining  accessions  to 
their  own  ranks,  for  procuring  additional 
arms  and  ammunition,  and,  in  short,  for 
making  all  necessary  preparations  for  active 
hostilities.  He  therefore  proceeded  at  once 
to  concentrate  all  available  troops  in  his 
department  within  easy  striking  distance  of 
the  malcontents,  in  order  to  be  prepared  for 
any  emergency. 

Before  the  thirty  days  asked  for  had 
expired,  some  of  White  Bird's  band  appeared 
in  the  Wallowa  Valley  and  murdered  a 
number  of  defenseless  white  men  and  women. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.        15 

All  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood  became 
extremely  belligerent  and  insolent.  White 
Bird  rode  through  the  valley  and  proclaimed 
to  the  whites  that  the  Indians  would  not  go 
on  the  reservation;  that  they  were  on  the 
war  path  and  would  kill  all  the  whites,  sol 
diers  or  citizens  who  should  oppose  their 
wishes. 

As  soon  as  news  of  this  disturbance  readied 
General  Howard,  he  sent  two  companies  of 
cavalry,  under  Captains  Perry  and  Trimble, 
to  the  scene  of  hostilities,  with  orders  to 
arrest  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrages  if 
possible,  and  bring  them  in.  Captain  Perry 
found  the  Indians  in  force  in  White  Bird 
Canon.  They  opened  fire  on  him  as  soon  as 
he  came  in  sight,  and  he  at  once  assaulted 
them.  After  sharp  fighting  for  an  hour,  he 
w^as  repulsed  and  compelled  to  retreat  to 
Grange ville,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles.  The 
Indians  pursued  him,  and  a  running  fight 
continued  all  the  way.  He  lost  thirty-three 
enlisted  men  and  one  officer  killed.  Mean 
time,  over  twenty  white  men  and  women 
had  been  massacred  at  and  near  Mount  Idaho, 


16    THE  BATTLE  6E  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

and  a  number  of  other  women  outraged  in  a 
most  brutal  and  shocking  manner. 

General  Howard  then  took  the  field  in 
person,  determined  to  punish  the  Indians 
who  had  committed  these  crimes,  and  to 
capture  and  place  them  on  the  reservation. 
Strong  detachments  of  troops  were  sent  in 
various  directions,  with  orders  to  strike  the 
hostile  Indians  wherever  found.  A  number 
of  sharp  skirmishes  and  two  severe  fights 
occurred  on  and  near  the  Clear  Water  River, 
resulting  in  severe  losses  to  both  whites  and 
Indians.  The  troops  moved  so  rapidly  as  to 
harass  the  Indians  at  every  turn,  and  in 
several  .cases  to  intercept  them  when  attempt 
ing  to  leave  the  country,  and  turn  them  back. 

Finally,  the  main  body  of  hostiles,  num 
bering  about  400  warriors  and  150  women 
and  children,  by  breaking  up  into  several 
small  bands,  succeeded  in  evading  the  troops, 
concentrated  their  forces  on  Weyipe  Creek, 
and  started  for  the  u buffalo  country"  in 
Montana,  by  way  of  what  is  known  as  the 
"  Lo  Lo  trail."  As  soon  as  this  fact  became 
known  to  General  Howard,  he  sent  couriers 


GEN,  JOHN  GIBBON. 


THE  BATTLE   OF   THE   BIG   HOLE.  17 

to  the  nearest  telegraph  station  with,  a  mes 
sage  to  General  Gibbon,  then  commanding 
the  district  of  Montana,  with  headquarters 
at  Fort  Shaw,  stating  the  facts,  and  request 
ing  him  to  send  out  troops  to  intercept  the 
hostiles,  if  possible,  while  he  should  follow 
them  with  such  force  as  could  be  spared  for 
the  purpose. 

On  receipt  of  this  message,  General  Gib 
bon  sent  an  order  to  Capt.  C.  C.  Rawn,  then 
in  command  at  Fort  Missoula,  to  watch  for 
the  fugitives,  to  head  them  off,  hold  them  if 
possible,  or  turn  them  back.  Rawn  imme 
diately  dispatched  a  scouting  party,  consist 
ing  of  Lieut.  Francis  Woodbridge  and 
three  men,  with  orders  to  proceed  up  Lo  Lo 
Canon  to  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Range,  ascertain,  if  possible,  whether  Joseph 
was  really  coming  on  that  trail,  and  if  so, 
to  report  the  fact  to  him  (Rawn),  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment.  Rawn  in  the 
meantime  prepared  his  little  command  for 
action.  Woodbridge  failed  to  return  within 
the  allotted  time,  and  fearing  he  had  been 
killed  or  captured,  Lieut.  Q.  ,&.  Coolidge 


18          THE  BATTLE   OF  THE   BIG  HOLE. 

ordered  to  take  two  men  and  scout  in  the  same 
direction,  search  for  him  and  for  the  Indians, 
and  especially  to  examine  a  trail  that 
branches  off  from  the  Lo  Lo  on  top  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Divide,  some  sixty  miles 
from  Missoula,  and  ascertain  whether  the 
hostiles  had  gone  that  way. 

These  officers  met  on  the  divide,  but  no 
trace  of  the  Indians  could  be  found,  and  it 
was  believed  that  they  had  either  turned 
back  or  taken  some  other  route.  Both  parties 
returned  to  their  post,  and  reported  the 
facts.  Within  a  few  hours  after  their  arrival, 
however,  two  Indian  runners  came  through, 
bearing  messages  from  Joseph  to  the  com 
manding  officer  at  Missoula  and  to  the  citizens 
in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  to  the  effect  that 
Joseph  and  his  band  were  coming  over  the 
Lo  Lo  trail ;  that  they  desired  to  pass 
through  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  en  route  to 
the  "buffalo  country,"  and  assuring  the 
people  that  if  allowed  to  do  so  peaceably  they 
would  not  harm  the  settlers  or  their  property. 

It  subsequently  transpired  that  Joseph 
find  Jus  bcind  reached  the  sujnmit  of  the 


THE   BATTLE   OF  THE   BIG   HOLE.  19 

range  only  three  hours  after  Coolidge  and 
Woodbridge  had  started  on  their  return  to 
the  post.  Joseph1  s  messengers  were  promptly 
arrested,  placed  in  the  guard-house,  and 
kept  there  until  the  end  of  the  campaign. 
But  the  news  they  brought  spread  like  wild 
fire,  and  the  whole  country  was  alarmed. 
Captain  Rawn's  command  consisted  of  only 
two  companies — his  own  and  Capt.  William 
Logan's  (A  and  I),  of  the  Seventh  Infantry. 

Leaving  twenty  men  to  guard  the  post, 
Captain  Rawn  moved  at  once  with  the 
remainder  of  his  force,  numbering  about 
fifty  men,  up  Lo  Lo  Creek.  He  was  joined 
en  route  by  about  one  hundred  citizens  from 
the  town  and  surrounding  country.  At  the 
mouth  of  the  canon  he  halted  and  built  a 
temporary  barricade  by  felling  trees  across 
it  and  up  the  north  wall  to  a  considerable 
distance,  the  south  wall  being  deemed  im 
pregnable  without  fortifying.  The  slope  to 
the  right  was  gradual  and  cut  up  with  gulches 
and  ravines,  some  of  which  extended  clear 
to  the  top  of  the  mountain. 

Tl}e  next  day  after  Rawn  took  up  this 


20  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

position,  Joseph  and  his  followers  arrived 
in  front  of  the  works,  sent  in  a  messenger 
with  a  flag  of  truce,  asking  again  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  pass  quietly  into  and 
through  the  valley.  Rawn  replied  that  the 
only  condition  upon  which  he  would  be 
allowed  to  pass,  was  that  he  and  his  warriors 
should  surrender  their  arms.  This  the 
Indians  of  course  refused  to  do,  and  a  parley 
was  begun  that  was  prolonged  through  twro 
days.  Many  of  the  citizens  urged  Rawn  to 
allow  the  hostiles  to  pass  on  their  own  terms. 
They  insisted  that  to  fight  Joseph  there, 
with  their  handful  of  men,  could  only 
result  in  defeat,  and  that  if  he  were  com 
pelled  to  fight  at  that  point,  and  gained 
a  victory,  as  he  surely  would,  he  would  then 
leave  a  trail  of  blood  and  ashes  behind  him 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  valley. 
Others  were  more  confident  of  success,  and 
were  spoiling  for  a  fight  then  and  there,  but 
when,  later  on,  a  fight  became  imminent, 
several  of  these  same  citizens  remembered 
that  they  had  urgent  business  at  home. 
Qn  the  evening  of  the  second  day, 


THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  21 

negotiations  having  failed,  Joseph  notified 
Rawn  that  he  should  go  into  the  valley  the 
next  morning  in  spite  of  all  opposition. 
Accordingly  at  daylight,  firing  was  heard  on 
the  skirmish  line,  and  it  was  supposed  that 
the  Indians  would  at  once  assault  the  main 
line.  Stray  shots  continued  for  some  time, 
and,  as  all  the  attention  of  officers  and  men 
was  concentrated  on  the  front,  a  man  called 
attention  of  Lieutenant  Coolidge  to  the  fact 
that  he  had  seen  the  heads  of  a  few  Indians 
moving  down  one  of  the  gulches  in  the  rear  of 
the  extreme  right.  This  proved  to  be  the  rear 
guard  of  Joseph' s  outfit.  The  wily  savage  had 
outwitted  the  troops.  He  had  left  a  few  men 
to  skirmish  with  Rawn's  pickets,  and  while 
the  command  was  expecting  an  assault  in 
front  he,  with  his  motley  band,  had  filed  up 
and  down  through  the  gulches  and  woods, 
past  the  line  of  works,  and  was  now 
well  on  his  way  down  the  creek.  Rawn  at 
once  deployed  his  forces  and  pursued  the 
fugitives,  but  did  not  overtake  them  until 
they  had  reached  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  and 
turned  up  it, 


22          THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

Three  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  creek, 
he  found  them  encamped  on  a  ridge  in  a  body 
of  timber,  where  they  had  every  advantage 
of  position  and  cover.  Their  manner  was 
insolent  and  defiant,  for  they  seemed  to  con 
sider  themselves  masters  of  the  situation. 
Most  of  the  citizens  had  now  deserted  Rawn; 
some  because  they  believed  the  Indians  had 
escaped  and  that  there  would  be  no  fight, 
others  because  they  believed  Rawn  would 
overtake  them  and  that  there  would  be  a 
fight.  Rawn' s  force  was  reduced  to  less  than 
one  hundred  men,  all  told,  and  he  saw  that 
to  attack  the  Indians  in  their  chosen  position, 
outnumbering  him  as  they  did,  more  than 
four  to  one,  would  be  madness.  He  there 
fore  wisely  decided  to  return  to  his  post 
and  await  the  reinforcements  that  he  knew 
were  coming. 

Some  of  the  rear  critics,  who  invariably 
talk  loudest  after  the  danger  is  over,  who 
are  " invincible  in  peace"  and  "invisible 
in  war,"  have  accused  Captain  Rawn  of 
mismanagement,  in  allowing  the  Indians  to 
pass  him  in  the  cafion,  and  of  cowardice 


THE   BATTLE   OF  THE   BIG  HOLE.  23 

in  not  attacking  them  when  he  overtook 
them  in  the  valley;  but  all  who  were  there, 
and  competent  to  judge,  agree  that  the  escape 
of  the  savages  could  not  possibly  have  been 
prevented  with  the  handful  of  men  he  had, 
and  that  he  exercised  judgment  and  discre 
tion  of  a  high  order  in  not  attacking  them 
on  their  chosen  ground,  when  such  an  attack 
could  only  have  resulted  in  a  repetition  of 
the  Ouster  massacre.  His  action  proved,  in 
the  end,  the  wisest  he  could  have  taken  in  a 
strictly  military  sense  ;  and,  besides,  it  saved 
the  Bitter  Root  country  from  being  devas 
tated  ;  for  White  Bird  said,  afterward,  that 
had  the  Indians  been  compelled  to  fight  their 
way  out  of  Lo  Lo  they  would  have  fired  the 
whole  country,  and  many  a  ranchman  wrould 
have  lost  his  crops  and  his  home  if  not  his 
scalp. 

But  brave  old  General  Gibbon,  the  hero 
of  South  Mountain,  was  on  the  war  path. 
On  receipt  of  General  Howard's  dispatch 
that  the  Nez  Perces  were  coming  his  way, 
he  hastily  summoned  Company  F,  of  his  regi- 
jaent,  from  Fort  Beitfon,  an<J  B  f rpm  Camp 


24  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

Baker,  to  move  with  all  possible  speed  to  his 
post.  Meantime  he  gave  orders  that  Company 
K  and  every  man  that  could  be  spared  from 
Fort  Shaw  should  prepare  at  once  for  the 
field.  When  Companies  F  and  D  arrived  there, 
he  took  the  field  at  their  head,  with  the  troops 
detailed  from  his  own  post,  and  moved 
rapidly  toward  Fort  Missoula,  crossing  the 
Rocky  Mountains  through  Cadotte's  Pass, 
carrying  a  limited  supply  of  provisions  on 
pack-mules.  The  distance,  150  miles,  over  a 
rough  mountainous  country,  was  covered  in 
seven  days,  the  command  reaching  Fort  Mis 
soula  on  the  afternoon  of  August  3. 

On  the  4th',  with  his  command  reinforced 
with  Captain  Rawn's  company,  and  Company 
G  of  the  Seventh  from  Fort  Ellis,  General  Gib 
bon  left  Fort  Missoula  in  pursuit  of  the  Nez 
Perces.  His  command  now  numbered  seven 
teen  officers  and  146  men.  A  wagon-train  was 
taken  from  Missoula,  wherein  the  men  were 
allowed  to  ride  wherever  the  roads  were 
good. 

The  Indians  had  passed  out  of  Lo  Lo  Canon 
and  started  up  the  Bitter  Boot  on  July  28, 


1.  CAPT.  CONSTANT  WILLIAM; 

2.  CAPT.  C    C.  U AWN. 

3.  CAPT.  WILLIAM  LOGAN 


4.  CAPT.  J.  M.  J.  SANNO 

5.  CAFT.  G.  L.  BROWNING. 

6.  CAPT.  KICHARD  CM.MIIA. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  25 

and  were  therefore  several  days  ahead  of 
the  troops.  They  knew  that  General  How 
ard  was  yet  many  days'  march  behind  them; 
that  Rawn  would  not  dare  attack  them  with 
his  little  force  of  " walking  soldiers,"  and 
not  yet  having  learned  the  mysterious  power 
of  the  telegraph  wire  to  carry  words,  faster 
than  the  swiftest  bird  can  fly,  had  not  the 
remotest  idea  that  another  and  larger  force 
was  on  their  trail. 

They  therefore  moved  slowly  up  this 
valley,  resting  and  grazing  their  horses,  trad 
ing  off  those  that  were  worn  and  foot-sore  for 
fresh  ones,  and  buying  from  the  ranchmen 
and  merchants  such  other  supplies  as  they 
needed,  including  guns  and  ammunition. 
Some  of  these  avaricious  whites  not  only 
sold  the  Indians  all  the  supplies  they  could 
while  passing,  but  actually  loaded  wagons 
with  meat,  vegetables,  and  such  other  mar 
ketable  goods  as  they  had,  and  followed  up 
the  dusky  horde,  selling  them  every  penny's 
worth  they  could,  as  long  as  they  remained 
in  the  valley. 

The  Nez  Perces  had  for  years  been  travel- 


&6          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

ing  through  this  valley  on  their  annual  trips 
to  and  from  the  buffalo  country,  on  the  Yel 
lowstone  and  Missouri  Rivers,  and  Chief 
Joseph  and  some  of  his  followers  had  many 
personal  acquaintances  among  the  settlers. 

Some  of  these  whites  openly  boasted  of 
their  acquaintance  and  "influence"  with 
the  red  handed  murderers,  and  gloated  over 
the  fact  that  it  enabled  them  to  sell  them 
more  goods  than  they  could  have  done  had 
they  been  strangers  to  the  Indians.  It  is  a 
-well-known  fact  that  there  are  a  number  of 
ranchmen  and  merchants  in  the  Bitter  Root 
country  so  greedy,  so  avaricious,  so  pas 
sionately  fond  of  the  mighty  dollar,  that  they 
would  not  scruple  to  sell  a  weapon  to  an 
Indian,  though  they  knew  he  would  use  it  to 
kill  a  neighbor  with,  if  only  they  could 
realize  a  large  profit  on  it.  In  this  case, 
they  bartered  openly  with  these  cut-throats 
and  assassins,  receiving  in  payment  for  their 
goods  gold  that  they  knew  was  stained  with 
the  blood  of  innocent  settlers,  lately  massa 
cred  on  the  Clear  Water  and  Camas  prairies, 
and  from  whom  this  gold  had  been  pilfered. 


BATTLE   OF  TIIK  BIG  ifOLE.  £7 

They  provided  the  fugitives  with  fresh  horses 
and  other  means  of  evading  their  pursuers, 
and  so  of  escaping  justice.  A  noble  excep 
tion  to  this  rule  was  exhibited,  however,  in 
the  case  of  a  Mr.  Young  of  Corvallis,  who 
courageously  refused  to  receive  their  blood 
money,  closed  his  store  in  their  faces,  and 
dared  them  to  do  their  worst. 

Of  course,  there  are  many  good,  fair- 
minded,  honorable  men  in  the  Bitter  Root 
Valley;  but  there  are  also  a  number  of  sharks, 
as  I  know  by  personal  experience.  There 
are  men  there  who  will  charge  a  stranger,  or 
even  a  neighbor,  three  or  four  prices  for 
some  commodity,  and  then  if  he  ventures  to 
protest  against  the  extortion,  will  invariably 
answer  him  with  that  ancient  bit  of  alleged 
humor,  so  familiar  to  the  ears  of  travelers  in 
the  far  West,  to  the  effect  that  they  are  not 
out  there  for  their  health. 

Joseph  was  reinforced  in  this  valley  by 
eighteen  lodges  of  renegade  Nez  Perces,  who 
lived  off  the  reservation,  under  the  leadership 
of  the  disreputable  chief,  "  Poker  Joe." 

The  hostiles  did  not  keep  their  pledge  with 


23          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

the  ranchmen  strictly.  Near  the  head  of  the 
valley  lived  a  man  by  the  name  of  Lockwood, 
who,  when  he  heard  of  the  approach  of  the 
Indians,  took  his  family  to  a  place  of  safety. 
The  Indians  passed  his  ranch  daring  his 
absence,  broke  into  his  house  and  rifled  it  of 
everything  it  contained  that  was  of  any 
value  to  them,  including  several  hundred 
pounds  of  flour  and  bacon. 

During  the  passage  up  the  valley,  White 
Bird  is  said  to  have  scented  danger,  and  to 
have  counseled  a  more  rapid  movement 
toward  the  great  plains.  But  Looking  Glass 
replied:  "  We  are  in  no  hurry.  The  little 
bunch  of  soldiers  at  Missoula  are  not  fools 
enough  to  attack  us.  We  will  take  the  world 
easy.  We  are  not  fighting  with  the  ranch 
men  of  this  country."  Poor,  misguided 
savage!  He  deemed  himself  the  wisest  and 
most  cunning  of  his  kind;  yet  little  did  he 
know  of  the  ways  and  resources  of  the  white 
man. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  29 


CHAPTER  II. 

General  Gibbon  moved  as  rapidly  as  his 
means  of  transportation  would  permit,  cover 
ing  thirty  to  thirty -five  miles  per  day.  In  his 
march  through  the  valley  he  was  joined  by 
thirty-six  citizens  who  did  not  sympathize 
with  the  kind  treatment  their  neighbors  had 
shown  the  fugitives,  but  who  believed  that 
they  (the  Indians)  should  be  punished  for 
their  crimes,  and  who  were  anxious  to  aid  the 
troops  in  administering  the  punishment.  The 
pursuing  party  gathered  all  possible  infor 
mation  en  route  as  to  the  rate  of  speed  at 
which  the  Indians  were  traveling,  their 
numbers,  etc.,  and  from  the  citizens  and  the 
camp  sites  passed,  learned  that  there  were 
still  over  400  of  the  warriors,  and  about  150 
squaws  and  children  in  the  band;  that  the 
bucks  were  all  armed  with  modern  breech- 
loading  rifles,  many  of  which  were  repeaters; 
that  they  were  amply  supplied  with  ammu- 


30          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIO  HOLE. 

nition,  and  had  with  them  over  2,000  head 
of  good  horses.  Gibbon  ascertained  that  he 
was  covering  two  of  their  daily  marches  with 
one  of  his,  and  the  question  of  overtaking 
them,  became,  therefore,  merely  one  of  time. 

Near  the  head  of  the  valley  he  fortunately 
secured  the  services  of  Joe  Blodgett,  an  old- 
timer  in  this  region,  as  guide  and  scout,  who 
proved  a  valuable  acquisition  to  his  forces. 
The  General  had  been  previously  assured  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  take  his  wagons 
over  the  high  divide  between  the  Bitter 
Root  and  Big  Hole  Rivers,  and  had  decided 
to  leave  them  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
and  proceed  with  such  supplies  as  he  could 
take  on  pack  mules;  but  Blodgett  assured 
him  that  it  would  be  possible  to  cross  the 
range  with  lightly-loaded  wagons,  as  he  had 
recently  taken  such  over  himself.  This 
proved  valuable  information,  for  the  wagons 
and  the  supplies  they  contained  were  subse 
quently  greatly  needed  by  the  troops. 

When,  however,  the  command  reached  the 
foot  of  the  mountains  and  learned  that  the 
Indians  had  already  crossed,  a  number  of 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.          81 

the  citizens  became  discouraged  and  hesitated 
about  going  farther.  Their  affairs  at  home 
needed  their  attention.  They  were  already  out 
of  provisions,  and  as  it  now  seemed  doubtful 
as  to  when  or  where  the  fugitives  would  be 
overtaken,  they  thought  it  best  that  they 
should  return  home.  But  the  General  knew 
that  his  handful  of  troops,  veterans  and  brave 
men  though  they  were,  were  scarcely  equal 
to  the  400  trained  warriors  in  front  of  them, 
and  appreciating  the  importance  of  keeping 
these  hardy  frontiersmen  with  him,  he  be 
sought  them  to  keep  on  a  few  days  longer. 

He  assured  them  that  he  was  in  earnest, 
and  should  strike  the  Indians  a  terrible 
blow  as  soon  as  he  could  overtake  them.  He 
told  the  volunteers  that  they  should  have  an 
honorable  place  in  the  fight,  if  one  occurred; 
that  they  might  have  all  the  horses  that 
could  be  captured,  save  enough  to  mount  his 
command,  and  that  meantime  his  men  would 
divide  their  last  ration  with  their  citizen 
comrades.  This  announcement  created  great 
enthusiasm  among  soldiers  and  volunteers 
alike,  and  the  latter  at  once  decided  to  follow 


32          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE\ 

their  gallant  leader  until  the  Indians  should 
be  overtaken,  no  matter  where  or  when  that 
might  be. 

Lieutenant  Bradley,  with  eight  men  of  the 
Second  Cavalry,  and  all  of  the  mounted  vol 
unteers,  was  now  ordered  to  push  on,  strike 
the  Indian  camp  before  daylight  the  next 
morning,  if  possible,  stampede  the  stock  and 
run  it  off.  If  this  could  be  done,  and  the 
Indians  set  on  foot,  then  their  overwhelming 
defeat  would  be  certain.  Lieut.  J.  W.  Jacobs 
asked  and  obtained  permission  to  go  with 
Bradley  and  share  in  this  hazardous  under 
taking.  This  detachment,  amounting,  all 
told,  to  sixty  men,  made  a  night  march  across 
the  mountains,  while  the  main  command 
camped  at  the  foot  of  the  divide  on  the  night 
of  the  7th,  and  at  5  o'clock  the  next  morn 
ing,  resumed  the  march.  The  road  up  the 
mountain,  a  steep  and  difficult  one  at  best, 
was  seriously  obstructed  at  this  time  by  large 
quantities  of  down  timber  that  had  to  be  cut 
out  or  passed  around,  so  that  the  ascent  was 
very  slow  and  trying  to  men  and  beasts. 
The  wagons  were  but  lightly  loaded,  and  by 


1.  LIEUT.  «J.  II.  BRADLEY. 

2.  LIEUT.  W.  I>.  ENGLISH. 

3.  LIEUT.  G.  II.  WRIGHT. 


4.  LIEUT.  C.  II.  COOLTDGE. 

5.  LIEUT.  A.  II.  .JACKSON. 

6.  LIEUT.  J.  W.  JACOBS. 


10.   LlKUT.   F.    WOOPBRTDOB. 


7.  LIEUT.  C.  A.  WOODIMTF. 

8.  LIK   r.  .T.T.  VAN  OKSDALK 
it.  Ln  rr.  K.  K.  HAIIDIN 


THE   BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE.  33 

doubling  teams  and  using  all  the  men  at 
drag  ropes,  the  command  succeeded  in  reach 
ing  the  summit,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  in 
six  hours,  and  by  the  performance  of  such 
labor  and  hardship  as  only  those  can  realize 
who  have  campaigned  in  a  mountainous 
country. 

From  the  summit  the  road  leads  down  a 
gentle  incline  for  a  mile,  when  it  reaches  the 
head  of  Trail  Creek,  and  follows  down  that 
stream  a  distance  of  ten  miles  into  the  Big 
Hole  basin.  It  crosses  the  creek  probably 
fifty  times,  and  the  banks  being  abrupt,  and 
the  road  obstructed  in  many  places  by  down 
timber,  the  progress  of  the  command  was 
extremely  slow  and  tedious. 

While  ascending  the  mountain  on  the  morn 
ing  of  .the  8th,  General  Gibbon  received  a 
courier  from  Lieutenant  Bradley,  with  a  dis 
patch  stating  that,  owing  to  the  difficult 
nature  of  the  trail  and  the  distance  to  the 
Indian  camp,  he  had  been  unable  to  reach  it 
before  daylight,  and  that  the  Indians  had 
broken  camp  and  moved  on.  Later  in  the 
clay,  however,  another  courier  brought  news 


34  TTIE  BATTLE   OF   THE  BIG   HOLE. 

that  they  had  again  gone  into  camp,  after 
making  but  a  Short  march,  at  the  mouth  of 
Trail  Creek,  and  that,  not  deeming  it  safe  to 
attack  in  daylight,  Bradley  had  concealed 
his  command  in  the  hills,  and  was  now 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  infantry. 

Upon  receipt  of  this  information,  Gibbon 
took  his  men  from  the  wagons  (leaving 
twenty  men  to  guard  the  train),  gave  each 
man  ninety  rounds  of  ammunition  and  one 
day's  rations,  and  pushed  on  on  foot,  having 
ordered  that  the  wagons  should  come  up  as 
fast  as  possible.  The  gallant  General  with 
his  faithful  little  band  moved  quietly  but 
rapidly  forward,  but  owing  to  the  bad  con 
dition  of  the  trail,  it  was  nearly  sundown 
when  they  reached  Bradley' s  camp.  Brad 
ley  informed  his  chief  that  he  believed  the 
Indians  intended  to  remain  in  their  camp 
several  days,  for  he  had  secretly  observed 
their  movements  from  the  top  of  a  neighbor 
ing  hill,  and  found  that  the  squaws  were 
engaged  in  cutting  and  peeling  lodge-poles 
to  take  with  them  for  use  on  the  treeless 
plains  of  the  buffalo  country. 


THE   BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  35 

On  arriving  at  Bradley' s  camp,  the  men 
filed  into  the  gulch,  ate  a  scanty  supper  of 
hard  tack  and  raw  pork,  and,  without  camp- 
fires  or  blankets,  laid  down  to  rest.  Having 
conferred  with  Lieutenant  Bradley  and  his 
scouts  as  to  the  best  disposition  of  the  pro 
posed  attack,  General  Gibbon  ordered  his 
adjutant  to  call  him  at  10  o'clock  at  night, 
and  lying  down  under  the  spreading  branches 
of  a  pine  tree,  slept  as  peacefully  as  a  child. 

He  knew  there  was  bloody  work  at  hand 
for  him  and  his  veterans;  that  the  rising  sun 
would  see  them  contending  against  a  savage 
foe  that  outnumbered  his  own  command 
more  than  tliree  to  one;  that  ere  nightfall 
many  of  his  noble  men,  and  perchance  he 
himself,  would  sleep  their  long  sleep;  yet  he 
had  a  solemn  duty  to  perform.  It  was  a  sad 
one;  an  awful  one,  but  it  was  nevertheless  a 
duty.  He  and  his  men  were  there  to  fight 
their  country's  battle.  They  were  to  avenge 
the  blood  of  innocent  men  and  women,  whom 
these  savages  had  wantonly  murdered  but  a 
few  days  before  in  a  neighboring  Territory 


36  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

He  had  been  ordered  to  strike  and  to  punish 
them.  He  would  strike,  and  the  blow  would 
be  a  telling  one.  Yet,  in  the  face  of  these 
facts — facts  that  would  chill  the  blood  of  any 
man  unused  to  wars  and  scenes  of  carnage — 
this  old  warrior,  this  veteran  of  twenty  bloody 
fields  at  the  South,  whereon  he  had  behaved 
so  gallantly  as  to  receive  merited  promotion 
and  congratulatory  recognition  from  his 
superiors,  was  as  cool,  as  self-collected,  and 
could  lie  down  and  sleep  as  peacefully  as 
though  no  enemy  were  within  a  thousand 
miles  of  him. 

"Thrice  is  he  armed  who  hath  his  quarrel 
just." 

This  old  hero  was  to  compete  with  a  foe 
greatly  his  superior  in  point  of  numbers;  a 
foe  schooled  in  craftiness;  a  foe  known  and 
dreaded  by  every  tribe  of  Indians  in  the 
Northwest;  a  foe  who  had  stricken  terror  to 
the  hearts  of  settlers  and  frontiersmen  far 
and  near ;  who  had  often  camped  on  the 
ground  he  now  occupied  and  knew  every 
foot  of  it,  while  to  the  troops  it  was  a  verit- 

le  terra  incognito, 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE  37 

Yet  General  Gibbon  knew  the  men  on 
whom  he  relied  for  victory.  He  knew  they 
would  stand  by  him,  no  matter  what  odds 
they  might  have  to  contend  with.  Thirteen 
of  his  seventeen  officers  were  veterans  of  the 
war  of  the  Rebellion,  as  were  nearly  all  the 
citizen  volunteers.  The  other  four  officers, 
and  nearly  all  the  enlisted  men  had  seen 
years  of  hard  service  on  the  frontier,  and 
had  acquitted  themselves  nobly  in  many  an 
Indian  campaign.  What  marvel  then  that 
a  man  of  such  experience,  and  with  such  a 
record,  in  command  of  such  men,  and  on 
such  a  mission,  should  feel  an  assurance  of 
success  that  would  bring  sweet  sleep  to  tired 
eyelids  on  the  eve  of  battle? 

Lieutenants  Bradley  and  Jacobs  did  a  piece 
of  reconnoitering  on  this  day  for  which  they 
deserve  great  credit.  Having  failed  to  reach 
the  Indian  camp  during  the  previous  night, 
when  it  would  have  been  safe  to  undertake 
to  capture  or  stampede  the  pony  herd;  and 
knowing  it  would  be  rash  to  attempt  it  in 
daylight,  it  theii  became  important  to  learn 


38        Tin-:  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

the  exact  situation  of  the  village,  in  order 
that  the  commanding  General  might  be  given 
the  most  minute  information  concerning  it 
when  he  came  up. 

Having  secreted  his  command  in  the  woods, 
therefore,  Bradley  sent  out  scouts  in  different 
directions  with  instructions  to  proceed  cau 
tiously  and  stealthily  about  the  valley  and 
ascertain,  if  practicable,  the  actual  where 
abouts  of  the  Indians. 

In  about  two  hours  these  men  returned 
and  reported  numerous  fresh  signs  of  Indians 
in  the  immediate  vicinity,  while  one  of  them, 
Corporal  Drummond,  he  said  had,  standing 
in  the  timber  some  distance  to  the  east,  heard 
voices  and  other  sounds  that  evidently  came 
from  a  busy  Indian  camp  near  by,  but,  fear 
ing  he  might  give  an  alarm,  he  had  not  gone 
near  enough  to  the  camp  to  see  it. 

Lieutenant  Jacobs  asked  Bradley  to  let 
him  take  Drummond,  return  to  the  spot  and 
verify  such  important  information.  Bradley 
replied  that  they  would  both  go,  and,  leav 
ing  Sergeant  Wilson  in  charge  of  the  camp, 
both  officers  started  with  Prummond  on  foot. 


SERGT.  MILDON  H.  WILSON. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   THE   BIG   HOLE.  39 

They  proceeded  with  the  greatest  caution 
a  distance  of  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  when 
the  Corporal  whispered  to  Lieutenant  Bradley 
that  they  were  near  the  place  where  he  had 
heard  the  voices.  They  were  surrounded  by 
a  thick  growth  of  small  pine  trees,  through 
which  it  was  impossible  to  see  to  any  distance. 
Moving  slowly  forward,  they  soon  heard  the 
sound  of  axes,  and  inferred  that  the  squaws 
were  cutting  lodge-poles  in  the  very  body  of 
woods  they  were  then  in. 

Creeping  along  with  bated  breath;  on  the 
alert  for  every  sound  or  sign;  fearful  lest 
they  should  make  known  their  presence  to  the 
Indians,  bring  on  a  skirmish,  and  thus  avert 
the  purpose  of  the  General,  they  scarcely 
dared  breathe. 

They  finally  caught  the  sound  of  voices 
and  stopped.  Here  the  officers  held  a  whis 
pered  consultation  which  resulted  in  their 
crawling  ahead  to  a  larger  tree  that  stood 
about  eighty  paces  in  front  of  them.  Still 
they  could  see  nothing  of  the  camp,  although 
the  sounds  came  plainer,  and  all  were  im 
pressed  witli  the  knowledge  that  they  were 


40          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

treading  on  the  very  crest  of  a  volcano,  as  it 
were.  Jacobs  suggested  that  they  climb  the 
tree,  arguing  that  as  it  was  taller  than  those 
about  it,  they  might  be  able  to  see  something 
interesting  from  its  top. 

To  this  Bradley  readily  assented,  and  leav 
ing  their  rifles  with  the  Corporal  and  cau 
tioning  him  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  any 
possible  intruders,  both  officers  climbed 
cautiously  and  stealthily  into  the  topmost 
branches  of  the  pine  tree.  When  they  had 
gained  this  position,  they  halted  for  a  mo 
ment  in  a  crouching  posture,  and  then,  cau 
tiously  straightening  themselves  up,  found 
that  they  were  well  above  the  surrounding 
foliage,  and  were  thrilled  at  seeing  hundreds 
of  Indian  horses  quietly  grazing  in  a  prairie 
almost  beneath  them,  for  the  tree  stood  on 
top  of  a  high  hill.  Several  herders  sat 
on  their  ponies  in  and  about  the  herd,  while 
others  lounged  lazily  on  the  ground  under 
the  shade  of  neighboring  trees.  A  few  hun 
dred  yards  beyond,  they  saw  the  Indian 
camp  where  hundreds  of  warriors  were  rest 
ing  and  chatting,  while  squaws  were  pitching 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  41 

tents,  making  beds,  carrying  in  poles,  and 
cooking  the  noonday  meal. 

A  brief  look  was  all  these  brave  officers 
dared  risk,  for  they  feared  detection,  and 
hastily  lowering  themselves  to  the  ground, 
they  lost  no  time  in  regaining  their  own 
camp. 

A  brief  dispatch  was  sent  off  to  the  Gen 
eral,  the  receipt  of  which  by  him  has  already 
been  referred  to,  advising  him  of  their  dis 
covery,  and  the  remainder  of  the  day  was 
spent  in  impatient  awaiting  his  arrival. 


42          THE  BATTLE  OF  TIIE  BIG  HOLE. 


CLTAPTEE  III. 

At  10  o'clock  at  night  the  officer  of  the 
guard  spoke  to  the  General  in  a  whisper,  and 
he  arose  with  the  alacrity  of  a  youth  who 
goes  forth  to  engage  in  the  sports  of  a  holi 
day.  The  men  were  called  at  once,  and  in 
whispered  orders  the  line  of  march  was 
speedily  formed.  All  were  instructed  to 
preserve  the  most  profound  silence  from  that 
moment  until  the  signal  should  be  given  to 
open  fire  on  the  enemy,  and,  under  the  guid 
ance  of  Joe  Blodgett  and  Lieutenant  Bradley, 
the  little  band  filed  silently  down  the  winding 
trail,  threading  its  way,  now  through  dark 
groves  of  pine  or  fir;  now  through  jungles 
of  underbrush;  now  over  rocky  points;  fre 
quently  wading  the  cold  mountain  brook, 
waist  deep,  and  tramping  through  oozy 
marshes  of  saw-grass;  speaking  only  in  whis 
pers;  their  rifles  loaded,  eyes  peering  into 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  43 

the  starlit  night,  and  ears  strained  to  catch 
the  slightest  sound  that  might  indicate  the 
hiding-place  of  any  lurking  foe  who  might 
perchance  be  on  an  outpost  to  announce  to 
his  followers  the  approach  of  danger. 

Five  miles  were  thus  stealthily  marched 
without  giving  an  alarm.  Then  the  valley 
in  which  the  troops  bad  been  moving  opened 
out  into  what  is  known  as  the  Big  Hole,  that 
is,  the  valley  of  the  Big  Hole  River.  This 
is  a  beautiful  prairie  basin,  fifteen  miles 
wide,  and  sixty  miles  long,  covered  with 
rich  bunch-grass  and  surrounded  by  high 
mountains.  In  the  edge  of  this  valley  the 
soldiers  saw  the  smoldering  camp-fires  of  the 
enemy;  heard  the  baying  of  his  hungry  dogs 
responding  to  the  howls  of  prowling  coyotes, 
and  saw,  by  the  flickering  lights,  the  smoky 
lodges  of  the  warriors.  The  men  crept  up 
to  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  slum 
bering  camp,  when  they  again  crossed  the 
creek  down  which  they  had  been  marching, 
and  ascended  its  eastern  bluff.  Here  they 
encountered  a  large  herd  of  ponies,  some  of 
whom  neighed  anxiously  as  the  strange 


44          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

apparition  filed  past  them,  but  luckily  did 
not  stampede. 

General  Gibbon  suggested  to  Bostwick,  his 
post  guide,  that  he  take  four  or  five  men  and 
drive  this  herd  back  up  the  canon,  but  Bost 
wick  replied  that  there  was  probably  a  strong 
guard  over  the  herd  who  were  sleeping  at 
the  moment,  somewhere  near  by,  but  who 
would  be  awakened  by  any  attempt  to  drive 
the  horses;  that  it-  would  take  several  men 
to  whip  them,  and  that  the  fight  would  alarm 
the  camp.  The  General  was  so  impressed 
with  the  scout's  reasoning  that  he  at  once 
countermanded  the  discretionary  order.  It 
subsequently  transpired,  however,  that  the 
Indians  had  felt  so  secure  for  the  time  being 
that  they  had  not  a  herder  or  a  camp -guard 
out,  and  had  Gibbon  known  this  at  the  time 
he  could  have  captured  this  entire  herd  with 
out  firing  a  shot,  and  thus  have  placed  his 
enemy  in  a  most  critical  situation. 

Down  the  side  of  this  steep  bluff,  thickly 
overgrown  with  sage  brush,  mountain  laurel, 
and  jack  pines;  over  rocks  and  through 
break-neck  ravines  and  washouts,  the  sol- 


THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  45 

diers  and  citizens  picked  their  way  with,  all 
the  skill  and  adroitness  of  trained  hunters, 
until  at  last  they  reached  a  position  overlook 
ing  the  Indian  camp,  and  within  150  yards 
of  the  nearest  teepees.  The  camp  was  pitched 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Wisdom  or  Big 
Hole  River,  which  is  formed  by  the  confluence 
here  of  Trail  and  Ruby  Creeks.  It  was  in 
an  open  meadow,  in  a  bend  of  the  river,  and 
was  partially  sui  rounded  by  dense  thickets 
of  willows.  There  were  eighty-nine  lodges 
pitched  in  the  form  of  a  Y,  with  the  angle 
up  the  stream,  and  below  the  camp  400  or 
500  ponies  grazed  peacefully,  tethered  to 
stakes  and  willows.  The  Indians  had  evi 
dently  secured  them  there  in  order  to  be  pre 
pared,  ready  for  any  emergency.  The  com 
mand  halted  here,  and  laid  down  to  await 
the  coming  of  daylight,  but  not  to  sleep. 

It  was  now  2  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  the  men  suffered  with  cold,  for  even  the 
summer  nights  are  cold  in  these  mountains, 
and  they  had  neither  overcoats  nor  blankets, 
having  left  all  these  with  the  wagons.  The 

smoldering  camp  fires    flickered  fitfully  in 
o 


46          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

the  pale  starlight,  and  the  smoky  lodges  of 
the  savages  presented  a  most  fantastic  pict 
ure,  as  the  dying  lights  blazed  with  ever- 
changing  wierdness  upon  them.  Eagerly 
the  soldiers  watched  the  scene,  and  with 
bated  breath  thought  of  the  awful  tragedy 
that  the  rising  sun  would  look  upon  in  that 
now  peaceful  valley. 

"They  have  no  idea  of  our  presence,"  said 
Bostwick,  the  half-breed  scout.  "  After  a 
while  you  will  see  some  fires  built  up  if  we 
remain  undiscovered." 

Sure  enough,  in  the  course  of  an  hour, 
squaws  began  to  come  forth  from  their  lodges 
and  replenish  their  waning  fires. 

As  these  blazed  up  they  stood  about  them, 
jabbered,  turned,  and  warmed  themselves, 
yawned,  and  then  one  by  one  returned  to  their 
skin  couches  and  betook  themselves  again  to 
sleep.  And  again  the  soldiers  and  their 
citizen  allies  were  left  to  meditate,  and  in 
whispers  to  commune  with  each  other. 

Their  thoughts  and  words  were  serious, 
for  they  well  knew  that  where  now  all  was 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  47 

peace,  war  in  its  veriest  horror  was  soon  to 
rage.  The  men  doubted  not  that  many  of 
them  would  fill  graves  in  that  wild  mountain 
valley  before  the  morrow' s  sun  should  set, 
and  that  many  others  should  suffer  with 
grevious  wounds.  Yet  they  faltered  not  in 
their  duty.  On  the  contrary,  they  longed 
for  the  coming  of  the  light  that  should 
enable  them  to  see  the  redskins  through  the 
sights  of  their  rifles,  and  complained  only  that 
it  was  too  slow  in  coming. 

Finally  the  night  ended  and  the  day 
approached  from  behind  the  eastern  hills. 
As  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  to  see  to  move 
advantageously  the  little  army  was  again 
astir;  but  its  movements  were  yet  as  silent 
as  the  grave.  Under  whispered  orders  and 
with  stealthy  tread  Sanno'  s  and  Comba-  s  com 
panies,  deployed  as  skirmishers,  descended 
the  bluff  into  the  valley,  groped  their  way 
through  the  willow  thickets,  waded  the  icy 
river,  the  water  coming  nearly  to  their  arm 
pits.  Logan,  Williams,  and  Rawn,  with  their 
companies,  were  sent  to  the  extreme  right  to 
cross  and  attack  the  camp  near  Ruby  Creek, 


48  THE   BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

while  Lieutenant  Bradley,  with  his  handful 
of  soldiers  and  citizen  scouts,  was  sent  down 
the  stream  with  orders  to  cross  and  strike 
the  camp  lower  down.  As  the  light  increased 
the  troops  were  advancing  cautiously,  when 
an  Indian  who  had  crawled  out  of  his  lodge 
and  mounted  a  horse,  rode  out  of  the  willows 
directly  in  front  of  Bradley' s  men  and  within 
a  few  feet  of  them.  He  was  en  route  to  the 
pony  herd  on  the  hill-side  above,  and  so 
quietly  had  the  advance  been  made  that 
even  he  had  not  heard  or  seen  the  men,  and 
was  within  a  few  feet  of  them  when  he 
emerged  from  the  thicket  of  willows.  He 
and  his  horse  were  instantly  shot  down. 

The  order  had  been  given,  "  When  the 
first  shot  is  fired  charge  the  camp  with  the 
whole  line."  And  most  eagerly  was  this  order 
obeyed.  Volleys  were  fired  into  the  teepees, 
and  with  an  eager  yell  the  whole  line  swept 
wildly  into  the  midst  of  the  slumbering 
camp.  The  surprise  was  complete.  The 
Indians  rushed  from  their  lodges  panic- 
stricken  by  the  suddenness  and  ferocity  of 
the  attack.  They  ran  for  the  river  banks 


THE  BATTLE   OF   THE  BIG   HOLE.  49 

and  thickets.  Squaws  yelled,  children 
screamed,  dogs  barked,  horses  neighed, 
snorted,  and  many  of  them  broke  their 
fetters  and  tied. 

Even  the  warriors,  usually  so  stoical,  and 
who  always  like  to  appear  incapable  of  fear  or 
excitement,  were,  for  the  time  being,  wild  and 
panic-stricken  like  the  rest.  Some  of  them 
fled  from  the  tents  at  first  without  their  guns 
and  had  to  return  later,  under  a  galling  fire, 
and  get  them.  Some  of  those  who  had 
presence  of  mind  enough  left  to  seize  their 
weapons  were  too  badly  frightened  to  use 
them  at  first  and  stampeded,  like  a  flock  of 
sheep,  to  the  brush. 

The  soldiers,  although  the  scene  was  an 
intensely  exciting  one,  were  cool,  self-reliant, 
and  shot  to  kill.  Many  an  Indian  was  cut 
down  at  such  short  range  that  his  flesh  and 
clothing  were  burned  by  the  powder  from  their 
rifles.  Comba  and  Sanno  first  struck  the  camp 
at  the  apex  of  the  V,  and  delivered  a  melting 
fire  on  the  Indians  as  they  poured  from  the 
teepees.  For  a  few  minutes  no  effective  fire 
was  returned,  but  soon  the  Indians  recovered 


50          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

in  a  measure  from  their  surprise  and,  getting 
into  safe  cover  behind  the  river  banks,  and 
in  some  cases  in  even  the  very  bed  of  the 
stream,  opened  fire  on  the  soldiers,  who 
were  now  in  the  open  ground,  with  terrible 
effect. 

The  fire  was  especially  destructive  on  the 
right  or  upper  end  of  the  line  where  the 
river  made  a  short  bend.  As  Logan,  with  a 
valor  equal  to  that  cf  his  illustrious  name 
sake,  swept  forward,  he  and  his  men  found 
themselves  directly  at  the  backs  of  the 
Indians  hidden  in  this  bend,  who  now  turned 
and  cut  them  down  with  fearful  rapidity.  It 
was  here  that  the  greatest  slaughter  of  that 
day  took  place.  Logan  himself  fell,  shot 
through  the  head,  and  at  sight  of  their 
leader's  corpse,  his  men  were  desperate. 
Regardless  of  their  own  safety,  they  rushed 
to  the  river  bank  and  brained  the  savages  in 
hand-to-hand  encounters,  both  whites  and 
Indians  in  some  cases  falling  dead  or  wounded 
into  the  stream  and  being  swept  away  by  its 
current. 

In  twenty  minutes  from  the  time  the  first 


THE  BATTLE  OF   THE  BIG  HOLE.  51 

shot  was  fired,  the  troops  had  complete  pos 
session  of  the  camp,  and  orders  were  given 
to  destroy  it.  The  torch  was  applied  with  a 
will,  and  some  of  the  canvas  lodges  with  the 
plunder  in  them  destroyed,  but  the  heavy 
dew  had  so  dampened  them  that  they  burned 
slowly  and  the  destruction  was  not  as  com 
plete  as  the  men  wished  to  make  it.  Many 
of  the  lodges  were  made  of  skins,  and  these 
would  not  burn  at  all. 

Though  the  Indians  were  driven  from 
their  camp  they  were  not  yet  defeated. 
Joseph's  voice,  and  that  of  his  lieutenants, 
White  Bird  and  Looking  Glass,  were  heard 
above  the  din  of  battle,  rallying  their  war 
riors  and  cheering  them  on  to  deeds  of 
valor. 

"  Why  are  we  retreating?"  shouted  White 
Bird.  "  Since  the  world  was  made,  brave 
men  have  fought  for  their  women  and  chil 
dren.  Shall  we  run  into  the  mountains  and 
let  these  white  dogs  kill  our  women  and 
children  before  our  eyes  3  It  is  better  that 
we  should  be  killed  fighting.  Now  is  our 
time  to  fight.  These  soldiers  can  not  fight 


52          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

harder  than  the  ones  we  defeated  on  Salmon 
River  and  White  Bird  Canon.  Fight!  Shoot 
them  down!  We  can  shoot  as  well  as  any 
of  these  soldiers." 

Looking  Glass  was  at  the  other  end  of  the 
camp.  His  voice  was  heard  calling  out, 
"  Wal-lit-ze  !  Tap-sis-il-pilp  !  Um-til-ilp- 
cown  !  This  is  a  battle  !  These  men  are  not 
asleep  as  those  you  murdered  in  Idaho. 
These  soldiers  mean  battle.  You  tried  to 
break  my  promise  at  Lo  Lo.  You  wanted 
to  fire  at  the  fortified  place.  Now  is  the 
time  to  show  your  courage  and  fight.  You 
can  kill  right  and  left.  I  would  rather  see 
you  killed  than  the  rest,  for  you  commenced 
the  war.  It  was  you  who  murdered  the 
settlers  in  Idaho.  Now  fight!" 

Thus  praised  and  railed  at  by  turns,  the 
men  recovered  their  presence  of  mind  and 
charged  back  into  the  camp.  The  fighting 
was  now  muzzle  to  breast.  This  deadly 
encounter  lasted  for  some  minutes  more, 
when  the  Indians  again  took  to  the  river  bank 
and  delivered  their  fire  with  great  precision 
and  deadliness  on  the  troops  in  open  ground. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  53 

In  the  hottest  of  the  fight,  Tap-sis- il-pilp 
was  killed.  Wal-lit-ze,  upon  being  told  of 
his  companion's  death,  rushed  madly  upon  a 
group  of  soldiers  and  was  shot  dead  in  his 
tracks.  Thus  did  two  of  the  three  murder 
ers  who  were  said  to  have  brought  on  the 
war  pay  the  penalty  of  their  crimes  with  their 
own  blood.  The  implied  wish  of  their  chief 
that  they  might  be  killed  was  realized. 

Before  these  two  men  were  killed,  so 
says  a  surviving  Nez  Perce,  an  almost  hand- 
to-hand  light  occurred  between  an  officer  and 
an  Indian. 

The  Indian  was  killed.  His  sister  saw  him 
fall,  and  springing  to  his  side,  wrenched  the 
still  smoking  revolver  from  his  hand,  leveled 
it  at  the  officer  and  shot  him  through  the 
Lead.  The  Indian  who  described  the  event 
did  not  know  who  the  officer  was,  but  every 
soldier  in  the  Seventh  Infantry  knows  and 
mourns  the  squaw's  victim  as  the  gallant 
Captain  Logan.  Another  Indian,  named 
"Grizzly  Bear  Youth,"  relates  a  hand-to- 
hand  fight  with  a  citizen  volunteer  in  these 
words; 


54  THE  BATTLE   OF   THE  BIG  HOLE. 

ikWhen  I  was  following  the  soldiers 
through  the  brush,  trying  to  kill  as  many 
of  them  as  possible,  a  big,  ugly  ranchman 
turned  around,  swearing,  and  made  for 
me.  He  was  either  out  of  cartridges  or 
afraid  to  take  time  to  load  his  needle  gun, 
for  he  swung  it  over  his  head  by  the  bar 
rel  and  rushed  at  me  to  strike  with  the  butt 
end.  I  did  the  same.  We  both  struck  at 
once  and  each  received  a  blow  on  the  head. 
The  volunteer's  gun  put  a  brand  on  my  fore 
head  that  will  be  seen  as  long  as  I  live. 
My  blow  on  his  head  made  him  fall  on  his 
back.  I  jumped  on  him  and  tried  to  hold 
him  down.  He  was  a  powerful  man.  He 
turned  me  and  got  on  top.  He  got  his  hand 
on  my  throat  and  commenced  choking  me. 

"  All  turned  dark  and  I  was  nearly  gone. 
Just  then  a  warrior  came  up.  This  was  Eed 
Owl's  son.  He  ran  up,  put  his  gun  to  the 
volunteer' s  side  and  fired.  The  ball  passed 
through  the  man  and  killed  him.  I  had  my 
arm  around  the  waist  of  the  man  when  the 
shot  was  fired,  and  the  ball,  after  going 
through  the  volunteer,  broke  my  arm," 


THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE.  55 

Some  of  the  Indians  had,  at  the  first  alarm, 
mounted  their  horses,  and  rode  rapidly  to 
the  hills  on  either  side  and  to  depressions 
in  the  open  prairies  of  the  valley.  From 
these  positions,  as  well  as  from  the  thickets 
and  river  banks,  now  came  a  most  galling 
fire,  which  the  soldiers  were  kept  busy  reply 
ing  to.  Although  much  of  this  shooting  was 
at  long  range  it  was  very  deadly,  and  at 
almost  every  crack  of  their  rifles  a  soldier, 
an  officer,  or  a  scout  fell.  General  Gibbon, 
Lieutenant  Woodruff,  and  both  their  horses 
were  wounded  by  these  sharpshooters. 

Gibbon  formed  his  troops  in  two  lines  back 
to  back,  and  charged  through  the  brush  in 
opposite  directions  for  the  purpose  of  driving 
out  the  Indians  who  remained  there,  but  they 
simply  retreated  farther  into  the  jungle,  ran 
by  the  flanks  of  the  assaulting  parties,  and 
kept  up  their  fire  at  short  range.  In  this  part 
of  the  action  Lieutenant  Coolidge  was  shot 
through  both  thighs.  Lieutenant  Hardin 
and  Sergeant  Rogan  carried  him  into  a  shel 
tered  spot  near  where  the  body  of  Captain 
Logan  lay. 


56     THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

By  this  time  Coolidge  liad  recovered  from 
the  shock  of  his  wound  sufficiently  to  be  able 
to  walk,  and,  although  weak  from  the  loss  of 
blood,  picked  up  a  rifle  that  had  belonged  to 
a  fallen  comrade  and  again  took  his  place  at 
the  head  of  his  company.  While  in  this 
enfeebled  condition  he  attempted  to  wade 
the  river,  but  getting  into  water  beyond  his 
depth  was  compelled  to  throw  away  his  rifle 
and  swim.  His  failing  strength  now  coni- 
palled  him  to  seek  shelter  and  lie  down. 

It  soon  became  evident  to  General  Gibbon 
that  it  would  be  unwise  to  hold  his  position 
on  the  river  bottom,  where  there  was  no 
adequate  cover  for  his  m  en,  and  he  reluctantly 
ordered  them  to  fall  back  up  the  hill  and 
take  cover  in  the  mouth  of  a  gulch,  since 
known  as  "  Battle  Gulch."  They  withdrew 
through  the  willow  thickets  to  a  position 
under  the  hill,  gallantly  carrying  their 
wounded  comrades  with  them,  and  then 
made  a  push  for  the  timber.  It  was  held  by 
about  twenty  of  the  Indian  sharpshooters, 
who  were  killed,  or  driven  from  it  only  at  the 
muzzles  of  the  soldiers'  rifles.  On  the 


THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  57 

approach  of  the  troops  these  Indians  took 
shelter  in  a  shallow  washout,  not  more  than 
a  foot  deep  and  two  or  three  feet  wide. 
Some  of  them  were  behind  trees  which  stood 
beside  this  trench. 

One  had  a  few  large  rocks  piled  about  the 
roots  of  his  tree,  and  from  a  loophole  through 
these  he  picked  off  man  after  man,  himself 
secure  from  the  many  shots  aimed  at  him  at 
short  range  by  the  soldiers.  Finally,  how 
ever,  a  soldier,  who  was  an  expert  marksman 
and  cool  as  a  veteran,  took  a  careful  aim 
and  sent  a  bullet  into  this  loophole  which 
struck  the  rock  on  one  side,  glanced  and 
entered  the  Indian' s  eye,  passing  out  at  the 
back  of  his  head — a  veritable  carom  shot. 
This  tree  was  girdled  with  bullets,  and  the 
plucky  Indian  who  lay  behind  it  is  said  to 
have  killed  five  of  the  soldiers  before  the  fatal 
missile  searched  him  out. 

While  the  main  body  of  troops  were  clear 
ing  out  this  clump  of  woods,  the  valiant  band 
of  regulars  and  volunteers  who  had  been 
sent  down  the  river  under  Lieutenant  Bradley 
to  strike  the  lower  end  of  the  camp,  now 


58          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

turned  and  fought  their  way  up  through  it; 
through  the  willow  thickets;  through  the 
sloughs  and  bayous;  through  the  windings 
of  the  river;  killing  an  Indian  and  losing  a 
man  at  every  turn,  and  finally  joined  the 
command  in  the  woods. 

.But  the  gallant  young  leader  of  the  band 
was  not  there.  He  had  fallen  early  in  the 
fight;  in  fact,  the  first  white  man  killed. 
He  was  leading  the  left  wing  of  the  army  in 
its  assault  on  the  camp.  General  Gibbon 
had  cautioned  him  to  exercise  great  care 
going  into  the  brush  at  that  point,  and  told 
him  to  keep  under  cover  of  the  brush  and 
river  bank  as  much  as  possible,  but  the  brave 
young  man  knew  no  fear  and  bade  his  men 
follow  him.  One  of  them  called  to  him  just 
as  he  was  entering  a  thicket  where  a  party  of 
Indians  were  believed  to  be  lurking,  and  said: 
"Hold  on,  Lieutenant;  don't  go  in  there; 
it's  sure  death."  But  he  pressed  on,  regard 
less  of  his  own  safety,  and  just  as  he  reached 
the  edge  of  the  brush  an  Indian  raised  up 
within  a  few  feet  of  him  and  fired,  killing 
him  instantly. 


THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  59 

The  Indian  was  immediately  riddled  with 
bullets,  and  then  the  men  charged  madly 
into  and  through  the  brush,  dealing  death 
to  every  Indian  who  came  in  their  way,  and 
the  blood  of  many  a  redskin  crimsoned  the 
sod,  whose  life  counted  against  that  of  this 
gallant  young  officer.  Thus  he,  who  had  led 
the  night  march  over  the  mountains;  who 
had  by  day,  with  his  comrade,  crawled  up, 
located  and  reconnoitered  the  Indian  camp, 
and  sent  the  news  of  his  discovery  to  his 
chief  ;  who  had  on  the  following  night  aided 
that  chief  so  signally  in  moving  his  command 
to  the  field  and  in  planning  the  attack;  who 
had  gallantly  led  one  wing  of  the  little  army 
in  that  fierce  charge  through  the  jungle  and 
into  the  hostile  camp,  had  laid  down  his  noble 
life,  and  his  comrades  mourned  him  as  a 
model  officer,  a  good  friend,  a  brave  soldier. 

Soon  after  the  assault  was  made  on  the 
camp  a  squad  of  mounted  warriors  was  sent 
to  round  up  the  large  herd  of  horses,  some 
1,500  in  number,  on  the  hill-side,  half  a  mile 
away,  and  drive  them  down  the  river,  Gen- 


60    THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

eral  Gibbon  saw  this  movement  and  sent  a 
small  party  of  citizen  scouts  to  turn  the 
horses  his  way  and  drive  the  herders  off.  A 
sharp  skirmish  ensued  between  the  two 
parties,  in  which  several  whites  and  Indians 
were  wounded,  but  the  Indians  being  mounted 
and  the  citizens  on  foot,  the  former  succeeded 
in  rounding  up  the  herd  and  driving  it  down 
the  river  beyond  the  reacli  of  Gibbon's  men. 

During  the  progress  of  the  fight  among  the 
teepees  the  squaws  and  young  boys  seized 
the  weapons  of  slain  warriors,  and  from  their 
hiding  places  in  the  brush  fought  with  the 
desperation  of  fiends.  Several  instances  are 
related  by  survivors  of  the  fight,  in  which  the 
she  devils  met  soldiers  or  scouts  face  to  face, 
and  thrusting  their  rifles  almost  into  the 
faces  of  the  white  men  fired  point  blank  at 
them.  Several  of  our  men  are  known  to 
have  been  killed  by  the  squaws,  and  several 
of  the  latter  were  shot  down  in  retaliation  by 
the  enraged  soldiers  or  citizens. 

A  scout  who  was  with  Bradley  states  that, 
while  they  were  fighting  their  way  up 
through  the  willows,  he  passed  three  squaws 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  61 

who  were  hidden  in  a  clump  of  brash. 
Knowing  their  blood-thirsty  nature,  and 
that  several  of  his  comrades  had  already 
been  killed  by  this  class  of  enemies,  he  was 
tempted  to  kill  them,  but  as  they  seemed  to 
be  unarmed  and  made  no  show  of  resistance 
he  spared  them  and  passed  on. 

Two  days  later,  however,  while  out  with  a 
burial  party,  he  found  these  same  three 
squaws  all  dead  in  their  hiding-place.  One  of 
them  now  had  a  Henry  rifle  in  her  hands,  and 
beside  another  lay  a  revolver  with  five  empty 
shells  in  the  cylinder.  He  thought  they  had 
recovered  the  weapons  from  slain  bucks  after 
he  passed  and,  opening  fire  on  some  soldier 
or  scout,  had  met  the  fate  to  which  their  con 
duct  had  justly  subjected  them. 

All  through  that  fierce  struggle  on  the  river 
bottom,  officers  fought  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  their  men;  some  of  them  with  their 
own  rifles,  some  with  rifles  recovered  from 
killed  or  wounded  comrades,  and  some  with 
revolvers.  Even  General  Gibbon  himself — 
who,  by  the  way,  is  an  expert  rifle  shot— from 


62          THE  BATTLE  Otf  THE   BIG  HOLS. 

his  position  on  the  bluff,  devoted  all  his 
spare  moments  to  using  his  hunting-rifle  on 
the  skulking  redskins,  and  more  than  one  of 
them  is  said  to  have  fallen  victims  to  his 
deadly  aim. 

Lieut.  C.  A.  Woodruff,  his  adjutant,  dealt 
shot  after  shot  into  the  foe,  as  he  rode  from 
point  to  point,  carrying  the  orders  of  his 
chief.  Captains  Comba,  Williams,  Brown 
ing,  and  Sanno,  used  their  Springfields  with 
telling  effect  and  put  many  a  bullet  where  it 
would  do  the  most  good.  Lieutenant  Jacobs 
was  as  swift  as  an  eagle  in  search  of  his 
prey,  and,  with  a  revolver  in  each  hand, 
dashed  hither  and  thither  hunting  out  the 
murderers  from  their  hiding-places  and  shoot 
ing  them  down  like  dogs. 

Lieutenants  Jackson,  Wright,  English, 
Van  Orsdale,  Harden,  and  Woodbridge  were 
all  at  their  posts,  and  none  of  them  lost  an 
opportunity  to  put  in  a  telling  shot.  Lieut. 
Francis  Woodbridge  was  the  youngest  officer 
in  the  command,  then  a  mere  boy,  but  a  few 
months  from  West  Point,  yet  he  was  as  cool 
as  any  of  the  veterans,  and  displayed, soldierly 


THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIO  HOLE.  63 

qualities  that  endeared  him  to  everyone  who 
participated  in  that  day's  work. 

Captain  Rawn  was  at  all  times  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight,  and  was  admired  alike 
by  officers  and  men  for  the  alacrity  with 
which  he  shared  in  every  danger.  His  con 
duct  in  that  fight  gave  the  lie  to  the  carpers 
who  had  accused  him  of  cowardice  in  the 
affair  in  Lo  Lo  Canon.  In  short,  every  officer, 
every  enlisted  man,  and  every  citizen  volun 
teer,  fought  as  though  the  responsibility 
of  the  battle  rested  solely  with  him,  and  all 
acquitted  themselves  most  nobly. 


64         THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIO  HOLE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

As  soon  as  the  command  abandoned  the 
camp,  the  Indians  reoccupied  it,  and  under 
the  fire  of  the  sharpshooters,  hauled  down 
several  of  their  teepees,  hastily  bundled 
together  the  greater  portion  of  their  plunder, 
packed  a  number  of  horses  with  it,  and, 
mounting  their  riding  ponies,  the  squaws 
and  children  beat  a  hasty  retreat  down  the 
valley,  driving  the  herd  of  loose  horses 
with  them.  They  had  hot  work  breaking 
camp,  and  several  of  them  and  their  horses 
were  killed  while  thus  engaged.  Two  of 
Joseph's  wives  and  a  daughter  of  Looking 
Glass  were  among  the  slain,  who  were  be 
lieved  to  have  been  killed  at  this  time. 

When  the  command  retired  into  the  tim 
ber,  the  Indians  followed  and  surrounded 
them,  taking  cover  along  the  river  banks 
below,  and  behind  rocks  and  trees  on  the 
hill-sides  above.  The  men  dug  rifle  pits  with 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG   HOLE.  65 

their  trowel  bayonets  and  piled  up  rocks  to 
protect  themselves  as  best  they  could,  and  a 
sharpshooting  fight  was  kept  up  from  this 
position  all  day.  At  times,  the  Indians'  fire 
was  close  and  destructive,  and  here  Lieuten 
ant  English  received  a  mortal  wound.  Cap 
tain  Williams  was  struck  a  second  time,  and 
a  number  of  men  killed  and  wounded. 

Two  large  pine  trees  stand  on  the  open 
hill- side  some  400  yards  from  the  mouth  of 
the  gulch.  Behind  one  of  these  an  Indian 
took  cover  early  in  the  morning  and  staid 
there  until  late  in  the  afternoon.  He  proved 
to  be  an  excellent  long-range  shot,  and  har 
assed  the  troops  sorely  by  his  fire  until  a 
soldier  who  had  crawled  up  the  gulch  some 
distance  above  the  main  body,  and  who  was 
equally  expert  in  the  use  of  his  rifle,  got  a 
cross-fire  on  him  and  finally  drove  him  out. 
He  went  down  the  hill  on  a  run  and  took 
refuge  in  the  willows,  but  with  one  arm 
dangling  at  his  side  in  a  way  that  left  no 
doubt  in  the  minds  of  those  who  saw  him 
that  it  was  broken. 

A  large  number  of  Indians  crawled  up  a§ 


66     THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

close  to  the  troops  as  they  dared,  and  the 
voices  of  the  leaders  could  be  heard  urging 
their  companions  to  push  on.  A  half -breed 
in  the  camp,  familiar  with  the  Nez  Perce 
tongue,  heard  White  Bird  encouraging  his 
men  and  urging  them  to  charge,  assuring 
them  that  the  white  soldiers'  ammunition 
was  nearly  gone.  But  he  was  unable  to 
raise  their  courage  to  the  desired  point,  and 
no  assault  was  made.  The  troops  held  their 
ground  nobly,  wasting  no  ammunition, 
and  yet  returning  the  fire  of  the  savages 
with  coolness,  accuracy,  and  regularity;  and 
from  the  number  of  dead  Indians  and  pools 
of  blood  found  on  the  hill-side  the  next  day, 
learned  that  their  work  here  had  not  been  in 
vain. 

Duirng  the  afternoon  of  the  8th  the  wagon - 
train  and  howitzer  had  been  brought  down 
to  within  five  miles  of  the  Indian  camp, 
parked,  and  fortified  by  Hugh  Kirkendall, 
the  citizen  wagonmaster  in  charge,  aided  by 
the  few  men  who  had  been  left  with  him  as 
train  guard. 

n  amusing  incident  occurred  that  night, 


THE   BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  67 

and  yet  one  that  came  near  costing  Kirkendall 
his  life.  Among  the  men  left  with  the  train 
was  William  Woodcock,  Lieutenant  Jacobs' 
servant.  He  was  armed  with  a  double-bar 
reled  shotgun  and  ordered  to  take  his  turn 
on  guard. 

During  the  still  hours  of  the  night  the 
wagonmaster  was  making  the  "rounds"  to 
see  if  the  men  were  on  the  alert.  As  he 
approached  William's  post  the  latter  called 
out  to  him  to  "halt";  and,  without  wait 
ing  to  learn  whether  his  challenge  had  been 
heeded,  blazed  away  at  the  intruder,  whom 
he  took  to  be  a  prowling  redskin.  The 
charge  of  buckshot  tore  up  the  ground  and 
cut  down  the  brush  about  the  wagonmas 
ter,  but  fortunately  none  of  them  hit  him. 
William  showed  himself  to  be  a  vigilant 
sentry,  but  a  poor  shot,  and  it  is  supposed 
that  he  will  never  hear  the  last  of  "  Who 
goes  there?— bang! "  while  there  is  a  sur 
vivor  of  the  expedition. 

At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  9th 
three  non-commissioned  officers  and 


68      •    THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

men  started  to  the  front  with  the  howitzer 
under  the  direction  of  Joe  Blodgett,  the  scout. 
They  succeeded  in  getting  it  up  to  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  scene  of  action  a  little  after 
sunrise.  They  took  it  across  Trail  Greek  and 
up  on  the  bluff,  where  they  were  in  the  act 
of  putting  it  in  position  to  open  fire,  when  a 
body  of  about  thirty  mounted  Indians  saw 
it,  and  ascertaining  that  only  a  few  men 
were  with  it  charged  with  the  intention  of 
capturing  it.  Two  of  the  soldiers  who  were 
with  the  piece  became  panic-stricken  and  fled 
when  they  saw  the  Indians  coming,  and  did 
not  stop  until  they  reached  the  settlement  a 
hundred  miles  away,  where  they  spread  the 
news  that  Gibbon's  whole  command  had  been 
captured  and  massacred.  So  far  as  is  known, 
this  is  the  only  instance  in  which  cowardice 
was  shown  by  any  man  in  the  command. 

The  remaining  four  men  stood  bravely  by 
the  gun,  however,  loaded  and  fired  it  twice 
at  the  assaulting  party,  and  then,  as  the 
Indians  closed  around  it,  used  their  rifles  on 
them.  When  they  saw  that  they  could  not 
guccessf ully  defend  the  piece,  they  threw  it 


THE   BATTLE   OF   THE   BIG   HOLE.  69 

off  the  trunnion  and  retreated.  Corporal 
Sayles  was  killed  and  Sergeants  Daily  and 
Fredericks  wounded  at  their  posts.  The 
horses  that  were  hauling  the  piece  were  both 
shot  down.  Private  Bennett,  the  driver,  was 
caught  under  one  of  them  in  its  fall,  and 
pretended  to  be  dead  until  the  Indians  with 
drew,  when  he  took  out  his  knife,  cut  the 
harness,  and  then  prodding  the  animal,  which 
was  still  alive,  made  it  move  sufficiently  to 
release  him,  and  he  retreated  and  reached 
the  wagon-train,  where  Sergeants  Daily  and 
Fredericks  also  arrived  later  in  the  day. 

The  Indians,  finding  the  howitzer  useless 
to  themselves,  took  the  wheels  off  the 
trunnion,  hid  them  in  the  brush,  and  taking 
a  pack -mule  that  had  been  brought  up  with 
the  howitzer  and  which  was  loaded  with 
2,000  rifle  cartridges,  returned  to  their  camp. 

The  loss  of  the  cannon  was  a  serious  blow 
to  the  command,  for,  could  it  have  been 
gotten  into  position  and  held,  it  could  have 
done  excellent  service  in  shelling  the  Indians 
out  of  their  strongholds,  whence  they  so 
annoyed  the  troops,  The  piece  could  not 


70  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE   BIG   HOLE. 

consistently  have  been  more  strongly 
guarded,  however,  than  it  was,  for  every 
available  man  was  needed  in  the  assault  on 
the  camp.  The  loss  of  the  2,000  rounds  of 
rifle  cartridges  also  weakened  the  command 
seriously,  for  it  compelled  the  men  to  reserve 
their  fire  all  day,  in  order  to  make  the  supply 
taken  into  the  action  with  them  hold  out. 
Had  this  extra  supply  reached  them,  they 
could  have  killed  many  more  Indians  during 
the  day  than  they  did. 

Meantime  the  fight  continued  to  rage  at 
the  mouth  of  the  gulch,  with  varying  fortunes 
and  misfortunes  on  either  side.  Late  in  the 
afternoon  a  smoke  was  seen  rising  from 
beyond  the  brow  of  the  hill  below  Gibbon's 
position,  and  the  cry  went  forth  that  the 
Indians  Lad  fired  the  grass.  A  wind  was 
blowing  the  fire  directly  toward  the  belea- 
gured  band,  and  all  were  greatly  alarmed. 
The  General  had  feared  that  the  Indians 
would  resort  to  this  measure,  for  he  knew  it 
to  be  a  part  of  tire  Nez  Perces'  war  tactics, 
and  he  believed  that  they  intended  to  follow 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  71 

up  the  fire  and  assault  his  men  while  blinded 
by  the  smoke.  Yet  he  was  not  dismayed. 
He  urged  his  men  to  stand  firm  in  the  face 
of  this  new  danger. 

"If  the  worst  comes,  my  men,"  said  he, 
"if  this  fire  reaches  us,  we  will  charge 
through  it,  meet  the  redskins  in  the  open 
ground,  and  send  them  to  a  hotter  place  than 
they  have  prepared  for  us."  The  fire  burned 
fiercely  until  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
intrenchments,  and  the  men  were  blinded 
and  nearly  suffocated  by  the  smoke.  But 
again  the  fortunes  of  war  were  with  the 
beleagured  band,  for  just  before  the  fire 
reached  them  the  wind  shifted  squarely  about, 
came  down  off  the  hills  from  the  west,  and 
the  fire,  blown  back  upon  its  own  blackened 
embers,  faltered,  flickered,  and  died  out. 
At  this  lucky  turn  in  their  fortunes  the 
soldiers  cheered  wildly,  and  the  Indians 
cursed  savagely. 

The  men  had  left  the  wagons  in  the  fore 
noon  of  the  previous  day  with  one  day's 
rations,  but  in  the  charge  across  the  river 
many  of  their  haversacks  had  been  filled 


72          THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  IIOi.K. 

with  water,  and  the  scant  supply  of  food  that 
remained  in  them  destroyed.  Others,  more 
fortunate,  had  divided  their  few  remain 
ing  crackers  with  their  comrades  who  were 
thus  deprived,  so  that  all  were  now  without 
provisions  and  suffering  from  hunger.  The 
gulch  in  which  they  had  taken  cover  was 
dry  and  rocky,  and  as  the  August  sun  poured 
his  scorching  rays  upon  the  men  they  suffered 
for  water.  True,  the  river  flowed  within  a 
few  hundred  yards  of  them,  but  the  man 
who  attempted  to  reach  it  did  so  at  the  risk 
of  his  life,  and  there  were  no  more  lives 
to  spare.  JSTot  until  nightfall  did  the  com 
manding  officer  deem  it  prudent  to  send  out 
a  fatigue  party  for  water.  Then  three  men 
volunteered  to  go,  and  under  cover  of  dark 
ness,  and  of  a  firing  party,  they  made  the 
trip  safely,  filling  and  bringing  in  as  many 
canteens  as  they  could  carry. 

The  men  cut  up  Lieutenant  Woodruff's 
horse  (which  the  Indians  had  conveniently 
killed  within  the  lines),  and  as  they  dared 
not  make  camp-fires,  devoured  full  rations  of 
him  raw.  The  night  was  cold,  and  again  the 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  78 

men  suffered  greatly  for  bedding.  The 
Indians  kept  firing  into  the  woods  occasion 
ally,  even  after  dark,  so  that  the  soldiers 
were  unable  to  rest.  Once  or  twice  they 
charged  up  almost  to  Gibbon's  lines  and 
delivered  volleys  on  the  men,  but  were 
speedily  repulsed  in  each  case  by  a  f  usilade 
from  the  intrenchments. 

General  Gibbon  had  heard  nothing  from 
his  wagon-train  since  leaving  it,  and  the  fact 
that  mounted  parties  of  Indians  were  fre 
quently  seen  passing  in  his  rear  made  it 
extremely  dangerous  to  attempt  to  pass  to 
or  from  it.  Indeed,  he  feared  the  train  had 
been  captured,  for  it  was  but  lightly  guarded, 
and  during  the  night  he  started  a  runner  to 
Deer  Lodge  for  medical  assistance  and  sup- 
X>lies.  This  man,  W.  H.  Edwards  by  name, 
succeeded  in  making  his  way  out  through  the 
Indian  lines  under  cover  of  darkness,  and 
walked  or  ran  to  Frenche's  Gulch,  a  distance 
of  nearly  sixty  miles,  where  he  got  a  horse, 
and  made  the  remaining  forty  miles  during 
the  following  night,  arriving  at  Deer  Lodge 
on  the  morning  of  August  11. 


74          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

On  the  morning  of  the  10th,  a  courier 
arrived  from  General  Howard,  informing 
Gibbon  that  he  (Howard)  was  hurrying  to 
his  assistance  with  twenty  cavalrymen  and 
thirty  Warm  Spring  Indians.  On  being 
questioned  as  to  the  supply-train,  this  courier 
reported  that  he  had  seen  nothing  of  it, 
which  statement  greatly  increased  the  fear 
of  the  men  that  it  had  been  captured  and 
destroyed.  Later  in  the  day,  however,  a 
messenger  arrived  from  the  train,  bringing 
the  cheering  news  that  it  was  safe.  The 
Indians  had  menaced  it  all  day,  but  the 
guard  in  charge  of  it  had  fortified  their 
position  and  fired  upon  the  savages  when 
ever  they  came  in  sight  with  such  telling 
effect  that  the  latter  had  -  made  no  deter 
mined  attack.  Howard's  messenger  had 
passed  thetrain  in  the  night  without  seeing  it. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  Sergeant 
Mildon  H.  Wilson,  of  Company  K,  with  six 
men,  was  sent  back  to  bring  up  the  train, 
and  later  in  the  day,  Captain  Browning 
and  Lieutenant  Woodbridge,  with  twenty 
men,  all  of  whom  had  volunteered  for  the 


THE  BATTLE  Otf  THE  BIG  HOLE.          75 

service,  were  sent  to  take  charge  of  it.  They 
met  the  train  on  the  way,  in  charge  of  Ser 
geant  Wilson,  and  with  it  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  command  just  at  sundown, 
bringing  the  blankets  and  provisions  so 
much  needed  by  the  men. 

This  detachment  performed  a  hazardous 
and  meritorious  piece  of  work  in  thus  rescu 
ing  and  bringing  up  the  train,  for  large 
parties  of  Indians  were  still  scouting  through 
the  woods  and  hills  watching  for  opportuni 
ties  to  cut  off  any  small  body  of  troops  who 
might  be  found  away  from  the  main  com 
mand  and  with  whom  they  might  success 
fully  contend. 

In  the  face  of  this  danger,  Browning  and 
Woodbridge,  with  their  few  supporters, 
marched  nearly  ten  miles  through  the 
swampy,  brush-lined  ravine,  and  succeeded 
in  moving  the  train  over  roads  that  were  well 
nigh  impassable  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances.  The  wagons  had  to  be  liter 
ally  carried  over  some  of  the  worst  places, 
the  mules  having  all  they  could  do  to  get 
through  without  pulling  a  pound. 


76    THE  BATTLE  OP  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

As  soon  as  tlie  train  had  been  safely  deliv 
ered  to  the  command,  General  Gibbon  asked 
for  a  volunteer  messenger  to  go  to  Deer 
Lodge  with  additional  dispatches,  fearing 
that  Edwards  might  have  been  killed  or  cap 
tured  en  route,  and  Sergeant  Wilson,  the 
hero  of  so  many  brave  deeds,  promptly 
volunteered  for  this  perilous  service.  He 
started  at  once,  rode  all  night,  and  reached 
his  destination  only  a  few  hours  behind 
Edwards. 

The  last  party  of  Indians  withdrew  about 
11  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  10th,  giving 
the  soldiers  a  parting  shower  of  bullets,  but 
it  was  not  known  until  daylight  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  llth  that  all  had  really  gone. 

From  the  time  the  last  shots  were  fired,  as 
stated,  all  was  quiet,  and  the  men  got  a  few 
hours  of  much-needed  rest,  such  as  it  was, 
for  they  had  slept  but  two  hours  in  the  past 
forty-eight.  The  fight  was  over;  the  enemy 
was  gone.  The  sun  that  rose  on  the  morning 
of  the  llth,  shone  brightly  over  as  beautiful 
a  valley  as  the  eye  of  man  ever  beheld,  and 
the  blackening  corpses  that  lay  strewn  upon 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIO  HOLE.          77 

the  field  were  the  only  remaining  evidences 
of  the  bloody  tragedy  that  had  so  lately 
been  enacted  there. 

Acts  of  personal  heroism  in  the  fight  were 
numerous,  and  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to 
record  them  all,  but  at  this  late  da,te  it  is 
impossible  to  obtain  full  particulars  of  this 
nature.  Among  those  worthy  of  special 
mention,  however,  is  this  same  Sergeant 
Wilson,  of  Company  K,  who,  during  the 
fight  among  the  lodges,  killed  an  Indian  who 
was  in  the  act  of  aiming  at  Lieutenant 
Jacobs,  at  very  short  range,  and  but  for  the 
quickness  of  Wilson's  movements  and  the 
accuracy  of  his  aim,  Jacobs  would  undoubt 
edly  have  been  killed.  Wilson  distinguished 
himself  several  times  during  the  day,  and 
is  known  to  have  killed  several  Indians. 
Indeed,  it  is  said  that  his  rifle  seldom  cracked 
but  an  Indian  was  seen  to  fall.  He  was  sub 
sequently  promoted  to  regimental  quarter 
master  sergeant,  for  gallant  and  meritorious 
conduct  on  that  day. 


78          THE  BATTLE  OF  TIIE  BIG  HOLE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Indians  claimed  after  their  final  sur 
render  that  they  would  have  held  Gibbon's 
command  in  the  timber  longer  than  they  did, 
and  would  have  killed  many  more,  if  not  all 
of  them,  had  they  not  learned  that  Howard 
was  at  hand  with  reinforcements.  They  admit 
that  they  were  warned  of  impending  danger 
in  some  form  in  due  time  to  have  avoided  a 
meeting  with  Gibbon,  but  did  not  heed  it. 
They  tell  us  that  on  the  evening  before  the 
arrival  of  Gibbon's  troops  at  the  Indian 
camp,  a  ' '  medicine  man  "  had  cautioned  the 
chiefs  that  death  was  on  their  trail. 

"What  are  we  doing  heref  he  asked. 
"  While  I  slept,  my  medicine  told  me  to 
move  on  ;  that  death  was  approaching  us. 
Chiefs,  I  only  tell  you  this  for  the  good  of 
our  people.  If  you  take  my  advice  you  can 
avoid  death,  and  that  advice  is  to  speed 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  79 

through  this  country.  If  we  do  not  there 
will  be  tears  in  our  eyes." 

But  the  chiefs  heeded  not  his  warning. 
They  held  a  feast  and  a  war-dance  that 
night,  and  then  lay  down  to  sleep,  feeling 
as  safe  as  they  ever  did  on  their  own  res 
ervation. 

They  claim  to  have  received  news  of  How 
ard'  s  coming  in  this  way : 

When  the  troops  retired  to  the  mouth 
of  the  gulch  on  the  morning  of  the  9th, 
the  warriors  were  examining  the  dead. 
Among  them  they  found  a  white  man,  a 
citizen,  who  was  breathing ;  his  eyes  were 
closed  and  he  pretended  to  be  dead,  but  they 
saw  that  he  was  not  though  he  was  severely 
wounded.  They  took  hold  of  him  and  raised 
him  up.  Finding  that  his  upossoming" 
would  not  work,  he  sprang  to  his  feet.  Look 
ing  Glass  was  at  hand  and  ordered  the  Indians 
not  to  kill  him,  reminding  them  that  he  was 
a  citizen  and  that  they  might  obtain  valuable 
information  from  him.  They  then  questioned 
him  closely  concerning  the  white  soldiers. 
He  told  them  that  Howard  would  be  there  in  a 


80          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

few  hours,  and  that  volunteers  were  coming 
from  Virginia  City  to  head  the  Indians  off. 
While  he  was  talking  with  them,  a  squaw 
who  had  lost  her  brother  and  some  of  her 
children  in  the  fight,  came  up  and  slapped 
him  in  the  face.  He  gave  her  a  vigorous 
kick  in  return,  and  one  of  the  warriors, 
enraged  at  this,  killed  him.  The  Indians 
having  thus  learned  that  reinforcements  were 
close  at  hand,  ordered  the  squaws  to  move 
camp,  and  the  warriors  remained  to  continue 
the  fight,  but  in  such  light  trim  that  they 
could  retreat  rapidly  whenever  it  should 
become  necessary. 

The  departure  of  the  squaws  had  been  so 
hurried  by  flying  bullets  that  they  left  large 
quantities  of  buffalo  robes,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  dried  meat  and  other  plunder  on 
the  field.  They  took  all  the  pack-animals 
with  them,  however,  so  that  the  bucks  were 
unable  to  take  the  property  with  them  when 
they  left,  and  it  subsequently  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  white  men.  One  citizen  volun 
teer  gathered  up  thirty-two  buffalo  robe?, 
which  he  subsequently  took  to  Helena  and 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.     81 

sold  at  good  prices  as  relics  of  the  battle. 
Several  of  them  were  badly  stained  with 
blood,  but  this,  of  course,  enhanced,  rather 
than  lessened,  their  value  in  the  eyes  of  the 
class  of  buyers  he  sought. 

Captain  Comba  was  sent  out  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  11  th  with  a  party  of  men  to  bury 
the  dead  soldiers  and  citizens,  all  of  whom 
were  found,  recognized,  and  decently  interred. 
Rude  head  boards,  obtained  by  breaking  up 
cracker  boxes,  were  placed  at  the  heads  of 
the  graves,  on  which  were  written,  or  carved, 
the  name,  company,  and  regiment  of  the 
soldier,  or  the  name  and  residence  of  the 
citizen,  whose  grave  each  marked. 

At  10  o'clock  that  morning  General  How 
ard  arrived  with  his  escort,  and  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  12th,  his  medical  officers  reached 
the  field  and  gave  to  the  suffering  wounded 
the  first  professional  care  they  had  had,  for 
owing  to  the  rapid  movements  of  Gibbon' s 
command,  the  surgeon  who  had  been  ordered 
to  join  it,  failed  to  reach  it.  On  the  13th, 
General  Gibbon  assigned  to  duty  with  Gen 
eral  Howard  to  aid  in  the  pursuit  of  the 


82     THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

Perees,  Captain  Browning  and  Lieutenants 
Wright  and  Yan  Orsdale  with  fifty  men,  all 
of  whom  volunteered  for  the  service.  Gibbon 
then  left  the  battle-field  with  the  wounded 
and  the  remainder  of  his  command  for  Deer 
Lodge,  where  he  arrived  three  days  later. 
He  was  met  en  route  by  a  number  of  wagons, 
ambulances,  and  nurses,  sent  out  by  the  peo 
ple  of  that  town,  and  on  arrival  there,  the 
wounded  were  carefully  cared  for,  the  com 
mand  dispersed,  and  each  company  returned 
to  its  station. 

Thus  the  Battle  of  the  Big  Hole  had  been 
fought  and  won  and  had  passed  into  history. 
Thus  more  than  a  score  of  lives  had  been 
laid  down  and  many  men  sorely  wounded— 
some  of  them  maimed  for  life — in  another 
effort  to  teach  hostile  Indians  the  necessity  of 
obedience  to  the  mandates  of  their  White 
Father. 

Thus  another  page  had  been  added  to  the 
glorious  record  of  gallant  deeds  done;  of 
bloody  fights  waged  by  our  soldiers  in  wrest 
ing  from  the  grasp  of  lawless  savages  the  great 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  83 

and  glorious  West,  and  making  it  a  land 
where  industrious  white  men  and  their  fami 
lies  might  live  in  peace  and  safety.  And 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  who  lives  and 
prospers  in  that  great  West  to-day  owes  the 
privilege  of  so  doing  to  the  brave  men  who 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  have  camped, 
tramped,  and  fought  over  the  broad  domain 
where  now  all  is  peace. 
•  The  Battle  of  the  Big  Hole,  although  fought 
with  but  a  handful  of  men,  was  one  of  the 
most  brilliant,  heroic,  and  desperate  pieces 
of  work  known  in  the  annals  of  Indian  war 
fare. 

It  was  a  glorious  achievement,  a  vic 
tory  dearly  bought  but  gallantly  won,  and 
the  grand  old  Seventh  Infantry  has  no 
brighter  page  in  its  history  than  that  earned 
by  this  day's  work. 

Gibbon's  name  will  for  ages  to  come  be  a 
terror  to  belligerent  redskins,  and  Indian 
mothers  will  use  that  name  to  reduce  to 
obedience  their  refractory  offspring,  long 
after  he  who  rendered  it  illustrious  shall  have 
passed  away. 


84  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  casualties  that 
occurred  in  the  action: 

SEVENTH  INFANTRY. 
KILLED. 

Company  A. — Capt.  William  Logan  and  Private  John 
B.  Smith. 

Company  B. — First  Lieut.  James  H.  Bradley. 

Company  D. — Corporal  William  H.  Payne,  Corporal 
Jacob  Eisenhut,  and  Musician  Francis  Gallagher. 

Company  E. — Private  Mathew  Butterly. 

Company  F. — Privates  William  D.  Pomroy  and  James 
McGuire. 

Company  G.— First  Sergeant  Robert  L.  Edgeworth, 
Sergeant  William  H.  Martin,  Corporal  Domminic  O'Con- 
ner.  Corporal  Robert  E.  Sale,  and  Privates  John  O'Brien 
and  Gottlieb  Mauz. 

Company  H. — Private  McKindra  L.  Drake  (orderly  for 
General  Gibbon). 

Company  I.— Sergeant  Michael  Hogan,  Corporal  Daniel 
McCaffrey,  and  Private  Herman  Broetz. 

Company  K. — First  Sergeant  Frederick  Stortz,  Musician 
Thomas  Stinebaker,  and  Artificer  John  Kleis. 

SECOND    CAVALRY. 
KILLED. 

Company  L. — Sergeant  Edward  Page. 

SEVENTH   INFANTRY. 
WOUNDED. 

Col.  John  Gibbon,  Seventh  Infantry  (left  thigh,  severe 
flesh  wound). 

Company  A. — First  Lieut.  C.  A.  Coolidge  (both  legs 
above  knees,  right  hand,  severe);  Private  James  C.  Lehmer 
(right  leg,  serious);  Private  Charles  Alberts  (under  left 
breast,  serious);  Private  Lorenzo  D.  Brown  (right  shoulder, 
serious);  Private  George  Leher  (scalp,  slight). 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  85 

Company  D.— Sergeant  Patrick  C.  Daly  (scalp,  slight); 
Corporal  John  Murphy  (right  hip,  severe),  Musician 
Timothy  Cronan  (right  shoulder  and  breast,  serious);  Pri 
vate  James  Keys  (right  foot,  severe). 

Company  E.— Sergeant  William  Wright  (scalp,  slight); 
Sergeant  James  Bell  (right  shoulder,  severe). 

Company  F. — Capt.  Constant  Williams  (right  side, 
severe,  and  scalp,  slight);  Sergeant  William  W.  Watson 
(right  hip,  serious;  died  August  29,  1877);  Corporal  Chris 
tian  Luttman  (both  legs,  severe);  Musician  John  Erikson 
(left  arm,  flesh);  Private  Edwin  D.  Hunter  (right  hand, 
severe);  Private  George  Maurer  (through  both  cheeks, 
serious);  Private  Charles  B.  Gould  (left  side,  severe). 

Company  G. — Sergeant  John  W.  II.  Frederic  (left 
shoulder,  flesh);  Sergeant  Robert  Benzinger  (right  breast, 
flesh);  Private  John  J.  Conner  (right  eye,  slight);  Private 
George  Baughart  (right  shoulder,  thigh,  and  wrist,  severe/, 
Private  James  Burk  (right  breast,  serious);  Private  Charles 
H.  Robbuke  (left  hip,  slight). 

Company  I.— First  Lieut.  William  L.  English  (through 
back,  serious,  and  scalp,  slight;  died  August  19,  1877); 
Corporal  Richard  M.  Cunliffe  (shoulder  and  arm,  flesh); 
Private  Patrick  Fallen  (hip  and  leg,  serious);  Private  Will 
iam  Thompson  (left  shoulder,  flesh);  Private  Joseph  Daross 
(ankle  and  leg,  serious). 

Company  K. — Second  Lieut.  C.  A.  Woodruff  (both  legs 
above  knees,  and  left  heel,  severe);  Sergeant  Howard  Clarke 
(heel,  severe);  Private  David  Heaton  (right  wrist,  severe); 
Private  Mathew  Devine  (forearm,  serious);  Private  Philo 
O.  Hurlburt  (left  shoulder,  flesh). 

CITIZEN    VOLUNTEERS. 

Killed. — L.  C.  Elliott,  John  Armstrong,  David  Morrow, 
Alvin  Lockwood,  Campbell  Mitchell,  H.  S.  Bostwick  (post 
guide,  Fort  Shaw). 

Wounded. — Myron  Lockwood,  Otto  Lyford,  Jacob  Baker, 
William  Ryan, 


86  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE   BIG   HOLE. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Killed.  Wounded. 

Officers  Seventh  Infantry 2  5* 

Enlisted  men  Seventh  Infantry 20  30f 

Enlisted  men  Second  Cavalry 1  1 

Volunteers  (citizens) 5  4 

Bostwick  (citizen) \\ 

Total 29  40 

*  One  officer  since  died,    t  Ono  enlisted  man  since  died.    $  Post 
guide  at  Fort  Shaw. 

JOHN  GIBBON, 

Colonel  Seventh  Infantry,  Com'd'g  Dist.  Montana. 
SEPTEMBER  2,  1877. 

The  fact  has  been  repeatedly  stated,  as 
showing  the  highly  civilized  condition  of  the 
Nez  Perces,  that  they  did  not  scalp  or  other 
wise  mutilate  the  bodies  of  the  soldiers  who 
fell  within  their  lines.  It  is  true  they  did 
not  while  the  fight  was  in  progress,  probably 
owing  to  the  good  influence  exerted  over 
the  warriors  by  Chief  Joseph,  who  is,  in 
reality,  an  Indian  of  remarkably  high  moral 
principles ;  but  Lieutenant  Van  Orsdale 
writes,  under  date  of  January  4,  1889  : 

"  About  six  weeks  after  the  fight,  I  re 
turned  to  the  battle-ground  to  rebury  our 
dead,  many  of  them  having  been  dug  up  by 
Indians,  bears,  and  wolves;  and,  to  destroy 


THE   BATTLE   OF   THE   BIG   HOLE.  87 

one  more  fiction  which  has  obtained  cre 
dence,  to  the  effect  that  these  Indians  did 
not  scalp  their  victims,  I  must  state  that 
both  Captain  Logan  and  Lieutenant  Bradley, 
as  well  as  several  private  soldiers,  had  been 
dug  up  and  scalped,  presumably  by  those 
Indians  who  had  been  left  behind  to  care  for 
the  wounded  hidden  in  the  hills  near  there." 

In  his  official  report  of  the  fight,  General 
Gibbon  says:  "I  desire  to  speak  in  the  most 
commendatory  terms  of  the  conduct  of  both 
officers  and  men  (with  the  exception  of  the 
two  cowards  who  deserted  the  howitzer). 
With  the  exception  of  Captain  Logan  and 
Lieutenant  Bradley,  both  of  whom  were 
killed  very  early  in  the  action,  every  officer 
came  under  my  personal  observation  at  one 
time  or  another  during  the  fight,  and  where 
all  were  so  active,  zealous,  and  courageous, 
not  only  in  themselves  fighting  and  in  cheering 
on  the  men,  but  in  prompt  obedience  to  every 
order,  I  find  it  out  of  the  question  to  make 
any  discrimination,  and  will  simply  mention 
the  names  of  those  who  w^ere  present  in  tiio 


88  THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

battle.  They  were  Capts.  C.  C.  Rawn,  Rich 
ard  Comba,  Geo.  L.  Browning,  J.  M.  J.  Sanno, 
Constant  Williams  (wounded  twice),  and 
William  Logan  (killed),  First  Lieutenants 
C.  A.  Coolidge  (wounded  three  times),  James 
H.  Bradley  (killed),  J.  W.  Jacobs,  regi 
mental  quartermaster,  Allan  H.  Jackson, 
G-eo.  H.Wright,  and  William  H.  English  (mor 
tally  wounded,  and  since  dead),  and  Second 
Lieutenants  C.  A.  Woodruff,  acting  adju 
tant  (wounded  three  times),  J.  T.  Van  Ors- 
dale,  E.  E.  Harden,  and  Francis  Wood- 
bridge." 

General  Terry,  speaking  of  this  light  in  his 
official  report,  says: 

6  4 1  think  that  no  one  can  read  this  report 
from  Colonel  Gibbon  without  feelings  of 
great  admiration  for  him,  for  his  officers, 
for  his  men,  and  for  the  citizen  volunteers 
who  fought  with  them;  but  with  the  admira 
tion  which  their  gallantry,  resolution,  and 
devotion  excites,  other  feelings  will  mingle. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  had  the  troops 
under  Colonel  Gibbon's  command  numbered 
300  men  instead  of  142,  the  JN"ez  Perce  war 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  89 

would  have  ended  then  and  there.  Had  the 
Seventh  Infantry  been  maintained  at  even 
the  minimum  strength  of  an  efficient  regi 
ment,  the  six  companies  engaged  would  have 
been  sufficient  to  accomplish  the  complete 
overthrow  of  the  enemy.  It  is  painful  to 
contemplate  the  famous  Seventh  Infantry,  a 
regiment  whose  history  is  interwoven  with 
that  of  the  country  from  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans  to  the  present  hour,  so  attenuated 
that  with  more  than  half  of  its  companies 
present  it  could  take  into  action  but  142  men. 
And  it  is  equally  painful  to  behold  its  colonel, 
recently  a  major-general  and  a  distinguished 
corps  commander,  reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  fighting,  rifle  in  hand,  as  a  private  soldier, 
and  compelled  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  lead  a 
mere  squad  of  men  as  a  forlorn-hope  against 
a  savage  enemy  from  whom  defeat  would 
have  been  destruction." 

General  Sheridan  has  this  to  say  of  it : 
"  During  the  month  of  June  the  Nez  Perce 
Indians  made  an  outbreak  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Columbia,  and  when  followed 
by  United  States  troops,  hastily  collected  by 


90          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  commanding  the  depart 
ment,  were  driven  eastward,  and,  about  the 
middle  of  June,  entered  Montana  Territory 
via  the  Lo  Lo  trail,  committing  some  depre 
dations  by  the  way.  Col.  John  Gibbon, 
commanding  the  district  of  Montana,  at  once 
took  the  field  at  the  head  of  148  men  and 
thirty-four  citizens,  who  joined  as  volunteers, 
and  on  the  llth  of  August  attacked  them  near 
Big  Hole  Pass,  Montana,  and,  after  one  of 
the  most  desperate  engagements  on  record, 
in  which  both  sides  lost  heavily,  he  succeeded 
in  driving  them  from  the  field. 

"  When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  Indians 
outnumbered  the  troops  and  citizens  who 
attacked  them  more  than  two  to  one,  and 
were  equally  as  well  armed  and  equipped,  the 
good  conduct  of  Colonel  Gibbon  and  his  men 
will  be  appreciated." 

And  General  Sherman  comments  officially 
on  the  fight  in  these  words : 

"  There  was  but  a  single  regiment  of  infant 
ry  (Seventh)  in  all  Montana,  Col.  John  Gibbon 
commanding,  distributed  to  five  posts,  four 
on  the  eastern  border  and  one  on  the  western, 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  91 

with  two  small  companies,  A  and  G,  com 
manded  by  Captain  Rawn,  who  were  em 
ployed  in  building  the  new  post  at  Missoula. 
It  is  near  this  place  that  the  Lo  Lo  trail 
debouches  into  the  Bitter  Eoot  Valley,  the 
western  settlement  of  Montana.  Joseph  had 
many  personal  acquaintances  among  the  set 
tlers,  some  of  which  are  civilized  Flatheads, 
and  he  managed  with  Indian  cunning  to 
cause  information  to  go  ahead  that  he  was 
bound  for  the  buffalo  country;  that  if  per 
mitted  to  go  on  unmolested  he  would  do  no 
damage;  that  he  had  no  quarrel  with  the 
people  of  Montana,  only  with  General  How 
ard,  etc, 

"  Colonel  Gibbon  was  then  at  Fort  Shaw, 
but  by  the  27th  of  July  he  had  drawn  to  him 
what  few  men  could  be  spared  from  Benton 
and  Baker,  marched  rapidly  150  miles  to 
Missoula,  then  taking  every  man  that  could 
be  spared  from  there,  he  started  in  pursuit 
with  fifteen  officers  and  146  men  (afterward 
increased  by  thirty-four  citizens). 

k ;  He  overtook  the  enemy  on  a  branch  of  Big 


92    THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

Hole,  or  Wisdom  Biver,  surprised  them  at 
daybreak  of  August  9,  and  for  a  time  had 
the  Indians  at  his  mercy;  but  their  numbers 
so  far  exceeded  his  own  that  he,  in  turn,  was 
compelled  to  seek  cover  in  a  point  of  timber, 
where  he  fought  on  the  defensive  till  the 
Indians  withdrew  at  11  p.  m.  of  the  10th. 

"  Colonel  Gibbon  reports  his  loss  at  two 
officers,  six  citizens,  and  twenty -one  enlisted 
men  killed;  five  officers,  four  citizens,  and 
thirty-one  men  wounded;  and  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy,  eighty -three  were  buried  on  the 
field,  '  and  six  dead  were  afterward  found  in 
a  ravine  at  some  distance  away.'  It  is 
otherwise  known  that  the  Indians  sustained 
a  very  heavy  and  nearly  fatal  loss  in  wounded 
in  this  fight,  and  could  Colonel  Gibbon  have 
had  another  hundred  men  the  Nez  Perce 
war  would  have  ended  right  there." 

Some  newspaper  scribblers  have  accused 
General  Gibbon  of  rashness  in  attacking  the 
Nez  Perces  when  he  knew  that  their  force 
outnumbered  his  own  so  largely.  He  has 
been  censured  for  sacrificing  the  lives  of  a 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.  93 

large  number  of  men  in  an  action  where  lie 
could  not  reasonably  hope  for  success.  But 
so  far  as  known,  no  army  officer,  no  military 
scholar,  in  short,  no  one  competent  to  judge 
of  the  merits  of  the  case,  has  ever  criticised 
his  conduct  adversely. 

An  old  maxim,  loved  and  quoted  by  all 
Indian  fighters  is,  that  the  time  to  fight 
Indians  is  when  they  are  found.  In  Indian 
campaigning,  a  stern  chase  is  usually  not 
only  a  long,  but  a  severe  and  tedious  one, 
and  the  case  in  point  is  no  exception  to  the 
rule,  save  in  that  General  Gibbon  overtook 
the  Indians  much  sooner  than  a  retreating 
band  is  usually  overtaken.  Yet  he  had 
made  a  hard  march.  He  had  been  ordered 
to  intercept  and  strike  the  renegades.  In 
obedience  to  this  order,  he  had  marched  his 
command  more  than  250  miles,  and  now  that 
he  had  overtaken  the  fugitives,  must  he  go 
into  camp,  fortify  himself,  and  calmly  wait 
for  reinforcements,  or  for  the  Indians  to 
attack  him?  Had  he  done  so,  the  Indians 
would  of  course  have  retreated  so  soon  as 
they  found  that  he  had  arrived  in  their  neigh- 

G 


94          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

borliood.  What  would  have  been  thought 
of  such  a  course  by  his  superiors?  What 
would  have  been  thought  of  it  by  these  same 
pretentious  newspaper  critics?  They  would 
doubtless  have  raised  the  cry  of  cowardice 
as  promptly  as  they  raised  that  of  rashness. 
General  Gibbon  is  not  one  of  the  kind  of 
soldiers  who  stops  to  count  hostile  Indians 
under  such  circumstances  as  these.  He  fights 
them  at  sight,  just  as  any  other  brave  com 
mander  does,  and  takes  the  chances.  His 
brilliant  record  in  the  civil  war,  as  well  as  on 
the  frontier,  has  long  since  convinced  his 
superiors  that  he  was  made  of  this  sort  of 
material,  and  this  is  why  he  had  so  often 
been  intrusted  with  commands  in  which  he 
was  required  to  exercise  just  this  kind  of 
generalship.  While  he  is  a  cautious  com 
mander,  within  due  and  reasonable  bounds, 
he  is  brave  as  a  lion,  and  knows  no  such 
thing  as  disobedience  of  orders.  He  felt 
himself  and  his  little  army  equal  to  a  contest 
with  the  band  of  hostiles  in  his  front,  and 
the  result  proved  that  he  was  correct  in  his 
estimate. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.        05 

The  St.  Paul  Pioneer  Press  replied  to  an 
editorial  which  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Herald,  soon  after  the  fight,  and  written  by 
one  of  these  carpers,  in  these  cogent  terms: 

"Both  in  its  conception  and  execution,  the 
plan  of  campaign  followed  by  General  Gib 
bon  was  a  master-piece  of  Indian  fighting. 
Nothing  can  be  further  from  the  brilliant 
folly  of  Ouster's  dash  than  Gibbon's  march 
and  attack.  It  was  wisely  planned,  and  boldly 
carried  out.  The  necessities  of  an  Indian 
war  are  simple.  They  are  to  move  swiftly, 
strike  suddenly  and  hard,  and  to  fight 
warily,  but  perse veringly  and  vigorously. 
All  these  things  Gibbon  did.  He  made  a 
forced  march,  and  completely  surprised  the 
enemy  at  the  end  of  it.  He  fought  the  sav 
ages  after  their  own  fashion,  retiring  to  cover 
after  the  first  onset,  and  fighting  singly,  rifle 
in  hand,  officers  and  men  alike,  from  the 
commander  down,  becoming  sharpshooters 
for  the  time,  and  picking  off  the  Indians  like 
born  frontiersmen.  And  the  battle  was  a 
victory,  a  brilliant  success,  in  that  it  inflicted 
a  terrible  punishment  on  the  Nez  Perces, 


96          THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

strewed  the  valley  with  dead  Indians,  and 
sent  the  crippled  remnant  of  the  band 
fleeing  to  the  mountains.  General  Gibbon 
is  a  shrewd  and  bold  Indian  lighter — and  the 
Herald  writer  is  an  ass." 

General  Gibbon  took  into  the  action,  six 
companies  of  infantry.  Had  these  compa 
nies  been  maintained  on  a  war- footing  of  100 
men  each,  as  all  compares  and  regiments 
should  be,  his  force  would  have  been  600 
men,  instead  of  less  than  200.  With  such  a 
force,  he  could  easily  have  surrounded  the 
Indians  while  they  slept  and  have  killed  them 
all;  but  a  pettifogging  Congress  had  cut  down 
the  strength  of  the  army  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  companies  numbered  less  than  twenty- 
five  men  each,  and  with  this  force  Gibbon 
was  unable  to  deal  with  the  Indians  as  he 
could  have  done  with  a  proper  force.  The 
fight  was  prolonged,  and  the  loss  of  life  was 
much  heavier  than  it  would  have  been  with 
a  suitable  force  of  soldiers  on  the  field,  so 
that  the  Forty-third  Congress,  which  first 
reduced  the  army  to  its  present  beggarly 
proportions,  is  morally  responsible  for  many, 


THE   BATTLE  OF  THE   BIO  HOLE,  97 

if  not  all,  of  the  lives  lost  and  wounds  re 
ceived  by  the  brave  men  who  participated  in 
that  affair. 

Although,  owing  to  this  insufficient  force 
of  men,  the  fight  was  not  a  complete  victory 
for  our  troops,  it  was  nevertheless  a  most 
stinging  blow  to  the  Nez  Perces.  They 
had  never  before  engaged  in  a  war  with 
our  soldiers,  -but  Indian  tradition  and  Indian 
gossip  had  told  them  that  the  pale-faced 
soldiers  were  slow  riders,  slow  walkers,  and 
poor  fighters ;  that  one  Indian  could  whip 
five  soldiers  any  day.  But  this  fight  proved 
to  them  the  falsity  of  these  stories.  It  taught 
them  that  even  "walking  soldiers"  were 
swift  pursuers,  good  hunters,  and  deadly 
assailants  when  led  by  a  brave  chief.  It 
taught  them  that  the  white  man  could  move 
by  night;  that  while  the  Indian  slept,  the 
soldier  crept;  that  his  tread  was  so  stealthy 
that  even  the  lightest  sleeper,  the  most 
watchful  warrior,  could  not  hear  his  approach, 
and  that  it  was  not  safe  for  the  red  man  to 
close  his  eyes  while  the  white  soldier  was  on 
his  trail.  It  taught  them  that  the  foot  sol- 


98  THE   BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

ciiers  were  marksmen ;  that  their  bullets 
could  search  out  the  hiding-place  of  the  wiliest 
Indian  in  the  mountains;  that  in  the  face  of 
the  deadliest  fire  the  Indians  could  pour  forth, 
they,  the  soldiers,  could  come  into  his  camp, 
shoot  him  down,  and  burn  his  lodges.  It 
taught  him  that  one  white  soldier  could  whip 
two  Indians;  that  the  Indian's  ability  to 
skulk  and  hide  were  no  match  for  the  white 
man's  courage.  In  short,  it  taught  him  that 
the  Indian's  only  safety,  when  overtaken  by 
soldiers,  was  in  surrender  or  in  flight,  in 
reaching  a  hiding-place  beyond  the  White 
Father's  domain,  and  that  the  flight  thither, 
in  order  to  be  successful,  must  be  the  most 
rapid  that  horses  could  make.  It  taught 
the  Nez  Perces  a  lesson  they  will  never  forget, 
and  undoubtedly  rendered  their  final  capture 
a  much  easier  and  less  costly  affair  than  it 
otherwise  would  have  been,  if  indeed  it  could 
else  have  been  accomplished  at  all. 

And  the  Nez  Perces  accepted  the  lesson 
so  taught.  So  soon  as  their  village  was  well 
out  of  the  way  of  Gibbon's  rifles,  they 
for  the  Irtish  Possessions,  and 


THE   BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE.  99 

though  closely  pursued  by  troops  all  the 
way,  who  thrice  overtook  and  attacked  them 
en  route,  they  made  no  other  stand  until 
General  Miles  headed  them  off  near  Bear 
Paw  Mountain  in  Northern  Montana,  and 
captured  nearly  all  their  horses.  Then  they 
were  compelled  to  light  or  surrender.  They 
made  a  four  days'  fight,  but  it  was  a  spirit 
less  one,  and  finally  succumbed  to  the  inev 
itable,  and  laid  down  their  arms. 

It  has  for  years  been  claimed,  and  repeat 
edly  shown,  that  one  white  man  was  equal 
to  three  or  four  Indians  in  a  fight,  position 
and  other  things  being  equal,  and  rarely  has 
any  band  of  Indians  been  encountered  who 
would  willingly  stand  their  ground  and  fight 
white  men,  either  soldiers  or  citizens,  unless 
certain  that  they  outnumbered  the  whites  to 
some  such  extent.  But  here  was  a  body  of 
Nez  Perces  who  stood  bravely  up  against  a 
force  of  nearly  half  their  owrn  numbers;  who 
fought  so  desperately  and  so  gallantly  that 
the  troops  who  assaulted  them  and  at  first  put 
them  to  flight,  were  afterward  compelled  to 


100        THE  BATTLE  OF   THE  BIG  HOLE. 

fall  back  and  take  cover;  who  followed  these 
troops;  hemmed  them  in;  advanced  on  them ; 
harassed  them  with  a  deadly  fire  for  twenty 
hours ;  only  withdrawing  when  they  had 
reason  to  believe  that  reinforcements  for  the 
troops  were  at  hand. 

Yet  General  Gibbon  and  his  Spartan  band 
of  veterans  attacked  this  superior  force, 
charged  into  its  midst,  drove  it  from  its  camp 
in  confusion,  fought  it  hand-to-hand  in  the 
brush,  and  inflicted  on  it  such  a  punish 
ment  as  probably  no  command  of  equal 
numbers  has  ever  before  inflicted  on  Indians 
under  similar  conditions  and  in  so  short  a 
time.  Several  of  the  veterans  who  were  in 
this  action,  and  who  had  fought  Sioux 
Indians  repeatedly,  said  afterward  that  they 
would  rather  fight  five  Sioux  than  one  Nez 
Perce. '  It  is,  therefore,  the  highest  possible 
tribute  to  Gibbon  and  his  men,  to  record  the 
fact  that  they  were  able  to  hold  their  ground 
for  a  day  against  such  a  force  as  this,  and  to 
kill  and  wound  so  many  of  them. 

Eighty-nine  dead  Indians  were  found  and 
buried  on  the  field,  nearly  three  times  the 


THE   BATTLE   OF  THE   BIG  HOLE.         101 

number  of  men  lost  by  General  Gibbon,  and 
it  is  known  that  a  large  number  of  mortally 
wounded  warriors  were  carried  away  and 
hidden  during  the  day  and  night  that  the 
soldiers  never  found.  Ranchmen  residing 
near  the  battle-field  tell  us  that  they  find 
skeletons  in  the  neighboring  forests  every 
summer ;  some  of  them  two  or  three  miles 
away  from  the  battle-ground  ;  some  of  them 
hidden  in  gulches  and  among  rocks  and  logs, 
which  they  suppose  to  be  those  of  Indians 
killed  in  this  fight,  and  who  were  doubtless 
carried  away  and  concealed  by  their  friends, 
or  who,  finding  themselves  mortally  wounded, 
crawled  hither  and  hid  themselves  to  die  in 
seclusion  rather  than  have  their  bodies  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  white  men. 

Besides,-  it  is  said  that  Joseph  carried  away 
with  him  a  number  who  were  so  seriously 
wounded  that  they  died  on  the  trail.  He  is 
said  to  have  admitted,  after  his  final  capture, 
that  208  of  his  people  were  killed  in  the  Big 
Hole  fight.  If  this  be  true,  then  there  were 
a  larger  number  of  Indians  killed  than  of 
white  men  engaged.  It  is  a  well-known  fact, 


102        THE  BATTLE   OF   TIIK   BIG    HOLE. 

that  only  about  one  hundred  warriors  finally 
surrendered  to  General  Miles,  and  that  only 
about  one  hundred  escaped  to  the  British 
Possessions  at  the  time  of  the  surrender. 
Hence  the  conclusion  seems  just,  that  200  or 
more  must  have  been  lost  in  the  fight  with 
Gibbon. 

How  skillfully  General  Gibbon  planned 
his  attack  on  the  Nez  Perces;  how  quietly 
and  stealthily  he  moved  his  little  army  down 
Trail  Creek  and  up  along  the  side  of  the 
bluff ;  how  carefully  he  formed  it  in  line  of 
battle  within  a  stone' s-throw  of  the  hostile 
camp  without  alarming  it,  and  all  in  the 
dead  of  night;  how  gallantly  his  men  charged 
through  the  jungle,  waded  the  river,  swept 
through  the  camp  dealing  death  to  its  fleeing 
occupants;  how  the  men  subsequently  took 
and  held  their  position  in  the  mouth  of 
Battle  Gulch  under  the  galling  fire  of  these 
trained  warriors,  are  facts  which  no  one  can 
properly  realize  and  appreciate  save  those 
who  were  there. 

But  the  battle-field  tells  its  own  mute  story 
even  now.  As  I  walked  over  it  and  saw  the 


THE   BATTLE   OF   THE   BIG   HOLE.         103 

hundreds  of  bullet  marks  on  trees,  rocks, 
and  logs,  and  thought  of  the  thousands  of 
other  missiles  that  entered  the  earth  and  left 
no  abiding  marks,  I  was  impressed  Avith  the 
remarkable  accuracy  of  the  shooting  done  by 
the  Indians.  Nearly  every  tree  and  every 
object  in  the  valley  and  in  the  mouth  of 
Battle  Gulch  capable  of  bearing  a  bullet 
mark  is  cut  and  scarred  in  a  frightful  man 
ner,  and  some  of  the  trees  are  literally 
girdled.  Many  of  the  teepee  poles  that  still 
lie  scattered  over  the  river  bottom  have 
bullet  holes  through  them,  and  thousands  of 
empty  cartridge-shells  still  lie  scattered  over 
the  field,  though  it  is  said  that  thousands 
more  have  been  carried  away  by  relic  hunters 
or  trampled  into  the  earch. 

No  true  American  can  read  the  record  of 
this  light  without  feeling  proud  that  he  is  an 
American;  that  he  is  a  brother  to  the  brave 
men  who  stood  so  nobly  together  under  such 
an  ordeal — an  ordeal,  in  short,  that  will  stand 
in  history  on  a  parallel  with  the  charge  of 
Balaklava  or  the  battle  of  Bunker' s  Hill. 

,4s  an  evidence  of  the  severity  of  this  fight. 


104        THE  BATTLE   OF   THE  BIG   HOLE. 

and  of  the  courage  displayed  by  the  officers, 
attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  of  the 
seventeen  engaged,  seven  of  them  were  hit 
fourteen  times,  as  follows: 

General  Gibbon,  thigh ,  1 

Captain  Williams,  head  and  body 2 

Captain  Logan,  head  (killed) 1 

Lieutenant  Bradley,  head  (killed) 1 

Lieutenant  Coolidge,  both  hands  and  legs 3 

Lieutenant  English,   head,    wrist,    and  back  (died  of 

wounds) 3 

Lieutenant  Woodruff,  both  thighs  and  heel 3 

1 

Total .  14 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.        105 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Veterans  of  the  civil  war,  and  men  who 
have  been  years  on  the  frontier,  who  have 
participated  in  many  of  the  most  sanguine 
Indian  campaigns  ever  fought,  say  this  was 
the  most  hotly-contested  field  they  were  ever 
on.  They  tell  us  that  never  have  they  seen 
such  cool  and  determined  fighting,  at  such 
short  range,  kept  up  for  so  long  a  time,  by 
Indians;  that  never  have  they  known  so 
many  bullets  placed  with  such  deadly 
accuracy,  and  so  few  to  fly  wild  as  in  this 
fight.  Nearly  every  man  engaged  in  the 
action,  white  or  red,  officer,  private  soldier, 
or  citizen,  seemed  a  cool,  deliberate  sharp 
shooter;  and  the  fact  that  after  the  first 
assault  both  parties  kept  closely  covered  all 
day,  alone  accounts  for  the  fact  that  so  many 
survived  the  fiery  ordeal.  The  Indians  did 
splendid  work  and  elicited  from  the  belea- 


106        THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

gured  soldiers  expressions  of  admiration  for 
their  markmanship,  as  well  as  for  their 
bravery  and  prowess  in  fierce,  close  work. 

An  old  sergeant,  who  was  with  the  Seventh 
at  Gettysburg,  when  it  aided  so  nobly  in 
holding  Little  Round  Top,  says  there  was  no 
hotter  place  on  that  historic  hill  than  he  found 
in  the  Big  Hole  on  the  9th  of  August,  1877. 

After  the  battle  General  Gibbon  issued  the 
following  congratulatory  order  to  his  men: 

[Regimental  Orders,  No.  27.] 

HEADQUARTERS  SEVENTH  INFANTRY, 
BATTLE-FIELD  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE, 

Montana  Territory,  Any.  11,  1877. 
The  regimental  commander  congratulates 
the  regiment  upon  the  result  of  the  conflict 
here  with  the  hostile  Nez  Perces  on  the  9th 
and  10th  inst.  While  mourning  for  the 
dead,  Capt.  William  Logan  and  First  Lieut. 
James  H.  Bradley  and  the  twenty-one  enlisted 
men,  who  fell  gallantly  doing  a  soldier's 
duty,  we  can  not  but  congratulate  ourselves 
that  after  a  stern  chase  of  over  250  miles, 
during  w^hich  we  twice  crossed  the  rugged 
divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  we  inflicted 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.        107 

upon  a  more  numerous  enemy  a  heavier  loss 
than  our  own,  and  held  our  ground  until  it 
gave  up  the  field. 

In  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  gallant 
dead,  the  officers  of  the  regiment  will  wear 
the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

JOHN  GIBBON, 

Colonel  Seventh  Infantry,  Commanding. 
Official : 
LEV i  F.  BENNETT, 

First  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  Seventh  Infantry. 

In  this  connection  it  is  deemed  proper  to 
give  the  following  facts  in  regard  to  General 
Gibbon's  record  as  a  soldier: 

He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  appointed 
to  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  from 
North  Carolina.  Graduated  July  1.  1847, 
brevet  second  lieutenant.  He  was  com 
missioned  a  second  lieutenant  September 
18,  1847.  Served  in  the  Mexican  war  and  in 
the  Seminole  war  in  Florida.  Promoted  to 
first  lieutenant  September  12,  1850.  Served 
as  instructor  of  artillery  at  West  Point  1854 
to  1859.  Promoted  to  captain  November  2, 
1859.  Served  in  Utah  1800-61.  Was  chief 


108        THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 


of  artillery  on  General  McDowell's  staff, 
October,  1861,  to  May,  1862.  Brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers  May,  1862. 

Was  in  the  battles  of  Grangeville,  Ma- 
nasas,  South  Mountain,  and  Antietam. 
Bre vetted  major-general  of  volunteers  for 
gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  at  Antietam. 
He  held  an  important  command  at  the  battle 
of  Fredericksburg,  where  he  was  severely 
wounded.  Was  brevetted  lieutenant-colonel 
U.  S.  A.  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services 
at  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  Was  se 
verely  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg 
while  commanding  the  Second  Corps,  and 
brevetted  colonel  U.  S.  A.  for  gallant  and 
meritorious  service  in  that  action. 

He  also  held  an  important  and  responsible 
command  in  the  Richmond  campaign,  and 
was  brevetted  brigadier-general  U.  S.  A.  for 
gallant  and  meritorious  services  at  Spotsyl- 
vania.  Was  commissioned  major-general  of 
volunteers  June  7,  1864.  Brevetted  major- 
general  U.  S.  A.  for  gallant  and  meritorious 
conduct  in  the  capture  of  Petersburg.  Mus 
tered  out  of  the  volunteer  service  June  15, 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.        109 

1806,  and  commissioned  a  colonel  U.  S.  A. 
July  28, 1866.  Promoted  to  brigadier-general 
U.  S.  A.  July  10,  1885,  and  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  district  of  the  Rocky  Mount 
ains.  He  commanded  the  column  that  res 
cued  Reno  from  the  Sioux  Indians  in  June, 
1876. 

An  officer  who  has  served  with  him  several 
years,  and  knows  him  intimately,  says: 

' '  He  is  an  able  writer  and  deep  thinker, 
a  thorough  soldier,  and  no  politician;  honest, 
strict  on  duty,  and  genial  and  kind  off  duty. 
He  is  brave  as  a  man  can  be  in  battle.  A 
true  and  loving  husband,  a  kind  father,  and 
the  truest  kind  of  a  friend.  A  thorough 
sportsman,  temperate,  modest,  and  as  care 
ful  of  the  wellfare  of  the  humblest  enlisted 
man  as  of  his  chief  of  staff."  Capt.  Con 
stant  Williams,  in  a  private  letter  to  the 
author,  under  date  of  December  23,  1888, 
says:  "  I  wish  to  bear  testimony  of  the  noble 
bearing  of  General  Gibbon  during  the  whole 
time  the  fight  was  in  progress,  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances.  His  coolness 

and   utter  indifference    to  danger  were    so 
H 


110        THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

marked,  and  so  admirable,  that  I  have  ever 
since  that  day  taken  him  as  my  model  for  a 
commander. ' ' 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this  long  record  of 
brilliant  services  and  well-merited  rewards  ; 
notwithstanding  this  great  and  good  man 
has  grown  gray  fighting  his  country's  battles; 
notwithstanding  he  has  acquired,  by  study 
and  experience,  a  military  education  and 
training  second  to  none  ever  acquired  by 
an  American,  a  man  who  was  suddenly  ele 
vated  from  private  life  to  the  high  office  of 
Secretary  of  War  has  recently  seen  fit  to 
publicly  reprimand  him  for  what  he  was 
pleased  to  term  a  disobedience  of  orders. 
The  alleged  offense  consisted  in  General  Gib 
bon's  having  pardoned  a  private  soldier,  who 
had  been  by  court-martial  convicted  of  a 
misdemeanor  and  imprisoned.  He  had  served 
several  months  of  his  term,  when  General 
Gibbon,  under  whose  orders  the  court-mar 
tial  had  been  held,  deeming  him  already 
sufficiently  punished,  issued  a  pardon  and 
ordered  him  released.  The  One  hundred 
and  Twelfth  Article  of  War  expressly 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.         Ill 

authorizes  such  action  on  the  part  of  de 
partment  commanders,  but  the  Secretary  of 
War,  deeming  his  power  greater  than  that 
which  makes  the  laws,  had  previously  issued 
an  order  forbidding  commanding  officers  to 
issue  pardons  in  such  cases,  and  General 
Gibbon  was  accordingly  severely  reprimanded 
for  a  violation  of  this  order.  He  appealed 
to  the  President,  and  that  "Man  of  Des 
tiny,"  ignoring  the  organic  law  of  the  land, 
approved  the  action  of  his  Secretary. 

Thus,  a  man  who  has  rendered  such  dis 
tinguished  services  to  his  country  as  to  merit 
the  gratitude  and  reverence  of  every  loyal 
American ;  a  man  who  has  spent  the  best 
years  of  his  life  in  fighting  his  country's 
battles  and  in  studying  and  obeying  her 
laws,  was  insulted  and  degraded  by  men  who, 
so  far  as  true  moral  worth  is  concerned,  are 
unworthy  to  sit  at  the  same  table  with  him. 

Capt.  William  Logan  entered  the  regular 
army  before  the  beginning  of  the  late  war, 
and  rose  from  the  ranks  through  the  succes 
sive  grades  of  corporal,  sergeant,  second  and 


112        THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

first  lieutenants.  He  was  commissioned  a 
captain  October  4,  1878.  He  saw  a  great  deal 
of  active  service  during  the  civil  war,  and 
bore  an  excellent  reputation  as  a  brave 
soldier. 

First  Lieut.  James  H.  Bradley  had  been 
in  the  army  eleven  years,  during  the  greater 
portion  of  which  time  he  had  been  in  active 
service  on  the  frontier;  had  participated  in 
several  Indian  campaigns,  and  had  repeatedly 
distinguished  himself  for  coolness  and 
bravery  in  the  face  of  danger. 

First  Lieut.  William  L.  English  was  com 
missioned  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  One- 
hundred  and  First  Regiment,  Illinois  Volun 
teers,  May  1,  1863.  On  March  5,  18C4,  he 
was  promoted  to  a  first  lieutenancy,  and 
mustered  out  of  the  volunteer  service  June 
7,  1865.  He  was  appointed  a  second  lieu 
tenant  in  the  regular  army  June  18,  1867, 
and  promoted  to  the  rank  of  first  lieuten 
ant  October  24,  1874.  His  record  is  also 
that  of  a  brave  and  capable  officer. 

Of  the  other  officers  who  participated  in 
the  fight  and  survived  its  dangers,  the  follow- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.         113 

ing  facts  will  no  doubt  be  of  interest  to  the 
general  public: 

General  Gibbon  is  now  (February,  1888) 
in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Colum 
bia,  with  headquarters  at  Vancouver  Bar 
racks,  Washington. 

Captain  Comba  is  on  recruiting  service  at 
Pittsburg,  Pa.  He  is  within  two  files  of  the 
rank  of  major,  and  in  the  usual  course  of 
events  will  be  promoted  to  that  grade  within 
a  year  or  two.  Captain  Sanno  is  stationed 
at  Fort  McKinney,  Wyoming,  and  Captain 
Williams  at  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming.  Cap 
tain  Browning  died  in  Paris,  May  1,  -1882,  and 
Captain  Eawn  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  October  C, 
1887. 

Lieutenant  Coolidge  was  promoted  to  a 
captaincy,  vice  Logan,  August  9,  1877,  and 
is  now  stationed  at  Camp  Pilot  Butte,  Wyo 
ming.  Lieutenant  Jacobs  was  promoted  to  a 
captaincy  in  the  Quartermaster' s  Department, 
1882,  and  is  now  stationed  at  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Lieutenant  Jackson  was  made  a  captain 
November  14,  1885,  and  is  now  stationed  at 
Fort  Washakie,  Wyoming. 

8 


114        THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE. 

Lieutenant  Woodruff  was  promoted  to  a 
captaincy  in  the  Subsistence  Department  for 
gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  in  the  battle 
of  the  Big  Hole,  and  is  now  on  duty  at  Gen 
eral  Gibbon's  headquarters,  March,  1878. 

Second  Lieutenant  Van  Orsdale  was  pro 
moted  to  first  lieutenant  August  20, 1877,  and 
regimental  quartermaster  June  1,  1885,  and 
is  stationed  at  Fort  Laramie,  the  present 
headquarters  of  the  Seventh  Hegiment. 

Lieutenant  Harden  is  detailed  at  West 
Point  as  instructor  in  tactics. 

Lieut.  Francis  Woodbridge  is  on  indefi 
nite  leave  of  absence  at  Detroit,  Mich., 
awaiting  retirement  on  account  of  ill  health. 


LJbrare 


HO   ftLL.    AT  B»G  Hott       jgt- 

AUG  9TH  i877. 
•      IN  BATTLE  WITH 

INOIANS. 


THE  MONUMENT  ON  THE   BIG   HOLE   BATTLE-FIELD 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.        115 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A  grateful  country  lias  erected  on  the  Big 
Hole  battle-field  a  fitting  monument,  a  modest 
but  enduring  shaft  of  solid  granite,  which 
marks  the  scene  of  the  bloody  conflict  and 
tells  in  mute  but  eloquent  words  the  story  of 
the  victory  won  there.  The  base  of  the  mon 
ument  is  five  feet  six  inches  square ;  the 
pedestal  is  four  feet  six  inches  square  by 
three  feet  seven  inches  in  height,  and  the 
height  of  the  entire  structure  is  nine  feet 
ten  inches.  On  the  north  face  of  the  shaft 
are  carved  the  words  : 

ERECTED  BY  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

On  the  east  face  the  words : 

ON  THIS   FIELD 

17  OFFICERS  AND   138  MEN 

OF     THE    7TH    U.    S.    INFANTRY, 

UNDER    ITS    COLONEL,    BVT.    MAJOR-GENERAL 

JOHN  GIBBON, 
WITH  8  OTHER  SOLDIERS  AND  36  CITIZENS, 

SURPRISED  AND   FOUGHT  ALL  DAY 

A   SUPERIOR    FORCE  OF  NEZ  PERCE   INDIANS, 

MORE  THAN  ONE-THIRD  OF  THE  COMMAND 

BEING  KILLED  AND  WOUNDED. 


116        THE  BATTLE  OF  THIS  BIG   HOLE. 

On  the  south  is  inscribed : 

TO    THE    OFFICERS    AND    SOLDIERS 

OF  THE  ARMY, 

AND    CITIZENS    OF    MONTANA, 
WHO  FELL  AT  BIG  HOLE, 

AUGUST  9,  1877, 
IN  BATTLE   WITH   NEZ  PERCE    INDIANS. 

And  on  the  west  side  is  a  list  of  the  sol 
diers  and  citizens  killed  in  the  action,  which 
is  the  same  as  that  already  quoted  from 
General  Gibbon's  report. 

The  stone  was  cut  in  Concord,  N.  II., 
shipped  to  Dillon,  Mont.,  by  rail,  and  hauled 
from  there  to  the  battle-field  by  ox  teams.  It 
was  placed  in  position  in  September,  1883,  by 
a  detachment  of  soldiers  from  Fort  Missoula, 
under  command  of  Capt.  J.  P.  Thompson,  of 
the  Third  Infantry.  It  cost  about  $3,000,  an 
appropriation  of  that  amount  having  been 
made  for  the  purpose  by  Congress. 

General  Howard  followed  the  Nez  Perces 
through  the  mountains,  and  learning  that 
they  had  determined  to  take  refuge  in  the 
British  Possessions  he  sent  a  courier  to  Gen 
eral  Miles,  at  Fort  Keogh,  who,  taking  the 


THE  BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE.         117 

field  at  the  head  of  six  hundred  men,  headed 
off.  the  fugitives  at  Bear  Paw  Mountains 
in  Northern  Montana,  and  captured  them 
after  a  desultory  fight  lasting  through  four 
days. 

-  Chief  Joseph's  reply  to  General  Miles1 
demand  for  surrender  is  a  curiosity  in 
the  way  of  Indian  rhetoric.  It  is  in  these 
words : 

' '  Tell  General  Howard  I  know  his  heart. 
What  he  tol  1  me  before  I  have  in  my  heart. 
I  am  tired  of  fighting.  Our  chiefs  are  killed. 
Looking  Glass  is  dead.  Too-hul-hul-sote  is 
dead.  The  old  men  are  all  dead.  It  is  the 
young  men  who  say  yes  or  no.  He  who  led 
on  the  young  men  is  dead.  It  is  cold  and  we 
have  no  blankets.  The  little  children  are 
freezing  to  death.  My  people,  some  of  them, 
have  run  away  to  the  hills,  and  have  no 
blankets,  no  food;  no  one  knows  where  they 
are— perhaps  freezing  to  death.  I  want  to 
have  time  to  look  for  my  children  and  see 
how  many  of  them  I  can  find.  Maybe  I 
shall  find  them  among  the  dead.  Hear  me, 
my  chiefs.  I  am  tired;  my  heart  is  sick  and 


118        THE   BATTLE   OF  THE  BIG   HOLE.  ' 

sad.   '  From  where  the  sun  now  stands  I  will 
fight  no  more  forever.'? 

As  stated  in  Joseph's  message,  while  the 
negotiations  for  the  surrender  were  in  prog 
ress,  White  Bird,  with  a  few  of  his  fol 
lowers,  escaped  through  Miles'  lines  and  fled 
to  the  north.  They  were  not  pursued,  and  suc 
ceeded  in  time  in  reaching  Woody  Mountain, 
in  the  Northwest  Territory,  where  Sitting 
Bull  and  his  band  were  encamped  at  the  time. 
When  the  Sioux  saw  the  Nez  Perces  coming, 
they  supposed  them  to  be  their  enemies,  the 
Black  Feet,  and  prepared  to  fight  them,  but 
White  Bird  halted  when  within  a  mile  of  the 
Sioux  camp,  sent  in  a  runner  to  announce 
himself,  and  when  the  Sioux  learned  who 
their  visitors  were,  they  received  them  with 
open  arms. 

Major  Walsh,  of  the  Northwest  mounted 
police,  happened  to  be  in  Sitting  Bull's  camp 
at  the  time,  and  describes  White  Bird  and  his 
people  as  being  the  toughest  looking  party 
of  Indians  he  had  ever  seen.  Their  horses 
were  mere  skin  and  bone;  some  of  them 
scarcely  able  to  walk.  The  Indians,  men, 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  HOLE.         119 

women,  and  children,  were  half  naked,  some 
of  them  with  hands  and  feet  frozen,  and 
they  had  not  a  pound  of  food  of  any  kind 
with  them. 

Too-hul-hul-sote  and  Looking  Glass  were 
both  killed  in  the  fight  with  Miles. 

White  Bird  is  still  living  near  Fort  Mac 
Leod,  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  with  his 
family  and  a  few  followers. 

After  the  surrender,  Joseph  and  a  few  of 
his  retainers  were  sent  to  Fort  Leaven  worth, 
where  they  were  imprisoned  until  July  21, 
1878,  at  which  time  they  were  placed  in 
charge  of  the  Indian  Bureau  and  located  in 
the  Indian  Territory.  In  June,  1885,  they 
were  removed  to  the  Colville  Reservation,  in 
Washington  Territory,  where  they  now  live 
unrestrained.  Joseph  is  hale,  hearty,  and 
cheerful,  and  has  accumulated  considerable 
wealth  in  the  way  of  cattle  and  horses.  He 
says  he  will  never  again  go  on  the  war  path; 
that  he  has  had  enough  of  fighting  pale-face 
soldiers;  that  their  bravery  is  more  than  a 
match  for  the  cunning  and  prowess  of  the 
red  man, 


120        THE  BATTLE  OIT  THE  BIG   HOLE. 

And  to  Gibbon's  command,  more  than  to 
any  and  all  others  who  pursued  and  fought 
Joseph  and  his  men,  belongs  the  honor  of 
having  broken  the  proud  spirits  of  these 
dusky  warriors;  of  having  killed  their  best 
men;  of  having  defeated  them  on  their  chosen 
field.  To  Gibbon  and  his  brave  men ,  in  short, 
belong  the  laurels  of  the  Nez  Perce  war  of 
1877. 


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by  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.'s  Official  Eailway  Map  of  the 
United  States,  Canada  and  Mexico,  and  an  index  to  all 
important  railway  stations  in  those  countries.  Price,  per 
number,  25  cents. 

Where  the  Trout  Hide.  By  KIT  CLARKE.  Illustrated. 
Containing  also  a  detailed  description  of  a  newly  opened, 
easily  accessible,  and  beautiful  country,  whose  waters 
teem  with  brook  trout,  black  bass,  and  land-locked  sal 
mon.  i6mo,  cloth,  $1.00  ;  paper,  50  cents. 

Wild  Fowl  Shooting.  Their  resorts,  habits,  flight,  and 
most  successful  method  of  hunting.  By  WILLIAM  BRUCE 
LEFFINGWELL.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  $2.50;  half  morocco, 
$3-50. 

"  There  is  not  a  book  which  could  have  been  written  that  was 
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Indexed  Pocket  Maps  of  every  State  and  Territory  in  the 
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England,   Wales,    and   Scotland,  as  far  as  Loch  Marec  and  the 

Cromarty  Firth 3  75 

London    and   Its   Environs,  Including  Excursions  to  Brighton,  the 

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Belgium  and  Holland "2  OO 

Northern  Germany 2. 50 

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Paris  and  its  Environs 2-5O 

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The  Travelers'   Manual  of  Conversation,    In  four  languages- 
English,  French,,  German,  and  Italian 1.25 

Palestine  and  Syria 7-5O 

Lower  Egypt,  with  the  Fayum  and  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai 5.50 

MISCELLANEOUS  GUIDES. 

Murray's  Handbook  for  Travelers  in  Ireland $1.00 

France.    By  the  author  of  "  Madamoiselle  Mori,"  etc. 1 .25 

The   Iinnd   of  Greece.     Described  and  Illustrated  by  Chas.  Henry 

Hanson 4.00 

Florence.    By  Augustus  J.  C.  Hare 1 .  OO 

Walks  in  Rome.    By  Augustus  J.  C.  Hare 3.5O 

The  Maritime  Provinces  (Canadn).    Oegood 1.50 

All  Round  Route  and  Panoramic  Guide  (Hudson,  St.  Lawrence, 

Niagara,  etc.)    By  C.  K.  Chisuolm 1 .50 

The  Thousand  Islands.    ByF.B.Hough 1.25 

General   Guide   to   the  United    States   and   Canada.     2  Vols. 

Part  I.— Eastern  States  and  Canada ;  Part  II.— Western  and  Southern 

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Rand,  McNally  &  Co.'s  Guide  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  California, 

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A  Week  in  Chicago.    Profusely  illustrated 25 

Pictoral  Guide  of  Chicago.    "With  folded  map  and  many  illustrations.      .25 

Guide  Book  for  Mt.  Desert.    By  Mrs.  Clara  Barnes 1.00 

Rand,  McNally  &  Co.'s  Illustrated  Guide  to  Niagara  Falls.       .25 
Official  Guide  to  the   Yellowstone  National  Park.     By  John 

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The  Mexican  Guide.    By  Thos.  A.  Janvier.    Revised  yearly 2.50 

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